Alfea Corporations
by reneecutie123
Summary: After a bad breakup, Stella is alone, confused, and still unemployed. While staying with a friend, she starts working at a restaurant where a certain business extraordinaire dines occasionally. He seems to take an immediate interest in her that no one else has before. Little did Stella know that this successful young man would inevitably change her life forever.
1. Interesting Meetings

**Chapter 1: Interesting Meetings **

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

"Ugh," I groaned as my alarm went off. Why can't I just sleep for a little while longer? My door bangs open and enters my roommate, Bloom.

"Rise and shine! Time to get your lazy butt to work." She walks over to the window and pulls the shades apart to let the blinding sunlight into the room. I roll over.

"Go away, Bloom," I mumble, already knowing that she won't.

She pulls the sheets back. "Get up. It's your first day and I know for a fact that you want to make a good impression." She was actually right about that, so I grudgingly get up and stumble into the bathroom.

Working as a waitress never was my vision of what my first job would be. Yeah. I'm 23-years-old and this is my very first job. I'm living with Bloom free of charge right now. She's actually a really great girl. I'll have to start paying rent when I get my first paycheck, though. Ever since my ex-boyfriend of five years, Steven, decided he was bored of me and kicked me out of his home, Bloom had taken me under her wing and helped me out. That was three months ago.

When I'm finished dressing and whatnot, I pull my hair into a ponytail and walk into the kitchen. Bloom already has breakfast set out. _Froot Loops_. Yummy.

"Thanks," I call out to her and hurriedly gobble down my cereal. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I check it. My Dad. Again.

"Hey, Dad."

"Stella! About time you answer. How's my baby girl?" I look at the clock on the wall to see that it's only 6:55 A.M. It's still pretty early….CRAP! My shift starts at seven!

"Uh, Dad I gotta go," I chock out as I grab my jacket and slip on my sneakers.

"What? I just called to ask when you were planning to come back down-"

"I don't know about that, Dad," I interrupted. "I'll call you later. Love you. Bye!" I turn off the phone before he could reply. I have no idea why he was calling me this early about coming back to town to visit him and his new bitch of a wife. She and that evil step-sister of mine are partly the reason that I left town with Steven five years ago.

"See you later, Bloom," I shot as I jog out of the door.

* * *

The diner was a ten minute walk at best, but today I made it a five minute sprint. No, I don't have a car or a bus pass. I just walk to get myself to places. I would've caught a ride with Bloom on her way to work, but she had to go on the other side of town for some meeting. She works as a secretary at a fashion designing firm. It had always been my dream to work in fashion, but it never came through for me.

I brushed through the creaking double doors just in time. A girl with long pink hair looked up from wiping down the counters and smiled. "Hi! You must be…Stella?" I nodded and she smiled again.

"I'm Roxy. The manager here. And before you say it, yes, I am young. My Mom left me the place after she passed. Since I'm eighteen, I run the place."

I blink twice. "Wow. That's… amazing. You do this all by yourself?" I start to walk around the counter to her.

"Nah. My Dad helps me out sometimes on the weekends and anytime I need help. My older sister, too. The only reason she's not running the restaurant is because she's already got a job and a family to keep her busy. My mom knew that, so she left the place to me. That's also why you're here. Hope you don't mind working from seven to four."

"No, not at all."

"Great," she squealed. " My sister should be here later to help out with the lunch rush. Breakfast rush is usually slow, but it will definitely pick up as the day goes on." She starts to walk away and then turns back to me abruptly. "Oh, the chef's name is Ricky. Don't get him mad. He can be particularly grouchy in the mornings." She tossed me a small apron to wear around the front of my orange checkered uniform.

"Good luck."

* * *

Like she said, the morning rush was slow. Not many people to serve, but plenty for me. As more people piled into the restaurant, Roxy joined me in serving them. I was really starting to get the hang of it. I took my thirty minute lunch break and came back. The customers weren't too rude, like I feared they would be. That is, until _He_ waltzed through the door.

He was accompanied by two other men. One with blond hair and the other with striking facial features and slicked out hair. The first man himself was absolutely gorgeous. From where I was standing I could tell he had brown hair and a pretty lean, muscular build. All three men were dressed in suits, as if they just got out of a business meeting or something.

I looked over my shoulder to Roxy who was busy with a family order. Looks like I'll be serving the cute guys. No complaining here. I pick up three menus from the counter and start my way over.

The blond haired guy is sitting on the inside of the booth next to the brunette, while the other man sat on the other side of the booth. As I approach the table, slicked out hair guy looks at me, cutting off a sentence he was making. He smirked in what I guess was suppose to be sexy way.

I cleared my throat at his uncomfortable stare. "Hello, gentleman. I'm Stella and I'll be your server today." I set the menus down on the table and the gorgeous guy immediately picks one up, looking it over. Slicked-out-hair guy smiled at me.

"Well, hi there Stella. Nice to see a beautiful waitress every once and a while," He winked and the blond-haired guy sighed.

"Riven, leave the poor girl alone. She obviously isn't liking your advances whatsoever." _Thank you blond-haired guy. _I didn't really want to thank him that much though because he kind of reminded me of Steven.

"Shut it, Sky. Me and…" Riven checked my nameplate again. "Stella were about to have a tantalizing conver-"

"Could we order now?" the gorgeous guy snapped. I kind of jumped at his sudden harsh voice.

Riven scowled. "What's crawled up your butt and died?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the three million dollar deal we lost today. Maybe if you could shut the hell up for a few seconds, then we might have been able to convince them otherwise." _Three million dollars? Whoa._

Sky put his hand on his shoulder. "Brandon, we can't win them all."

Brandon shook his hand off. "I don't care. We could've gotten that deal if-" Brandon cut his eyes up to me. My heart pounds as I look into his beautiful brown eyes. They were practically mesmerizing. Even though they were glaring at me right now.

"Did you want anything else?" He asked, irritated.

"Oh! I'm…I…Sorry. I'll just-" I stumble over my sentences.

"You'll just leave. Now. We'll tell you when we're ready." And with that, he turned away from me and back to Sky. Riven smiles slightly in an apology, but then turns away as well. I turn around and walk to my other table. My cheeks are on fire. That may have been the most embarrassing social interaction I've had in my life. Who did he think he was? My Father? And why didn't I snap back at him? He just got me all flustered and completely shocked me with his attitude.

I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn't see Roxy right in front of me until I ran into her. Classic Stella.

"Sorry, Roxy. Won't happen again," I apologize.

She waves me off. "Happens all the time. Are you alright though? I saw you talking to those guys over there."

"Oh…yeah. I'm fine. Two of the guys were cool. It was just the one with the brown hair that gave me major attitude." I confessed, glancing over at the table again. I lock eyes with none other than Brandon. He surprisingly held my gaze steadily. I looked away first and turned back to Roxy. Why was he looking at me like that? He was so fast to dismiss me before. What's his deal?

"Ah. Do you know who they are? I mean, what they do?" I shake my head. "They're like big business guys. Like, really important men. They all work at Alfea Corporations." I mouth drops a little.

"Alfea Corp.?" Alfea Corporations is a huge deal. They work in technology, construction and stuff like that. All I know is that this company has been around before I was even born. These guys looked not that much older than me. It's surprising to hear that they are huge business moguls.

"So," I said, "they think they're better than other people?"

Roxy shrugged. "They must not, since they always come to the smallest diner in town."

"Always?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Yep. Everyday, actually. Well, it's usually just the brown haired one, but he brings company every now and again." She looks me over again. "Look, my sister just came in. She can take over their table if you want her too. She usually handles them anyway."

I shake my head quickly. "No, no. She doesn't have to do that. I'll be fine."

"Seriously, Stella. You don't have to deal with them if you don't want to." I bit my lip in consideration. I didn't really want to see Brandon again. Maybe this was the best for now.

"That would be great."

* * *

I went home that night feeling pretty good about my new job. It wasn't the best in the world, but it was definitely a start. When Bloom asked about my day, I told her all about it. All she knows is that I met some super hot guys today. She got all giggly after I told her one of them were blond. She's a sucker for blond guys. She doesn't know about the rude Brandon part, though. I didn't want to embarrass myself any further by talking about it. He just isn't worth my time. For some reason though, I couldn't get the brown-eyed stranger out of my head.

The next day started out much like the first. Roxy's sister, Tecna, wasn't coming in today. So it was just she and I today. I was hoping that Brandon decided to stay away today. I did some thinking last night and I wasn't going to let him talk to me like that again. I still need some time to come up with a snarky comeback.

Of course, things I hope for rarely come true as I notice Brandon walk through the door. I sighed and moved toward the other end of the restaurant as he sat down in the same booth as yesterday. Why would you sit in a booth if you're only eating for one? I caught Roxy's eye and nodded towards his table. She got the hint that I didn't want to serve him.

"Order 24!" yelled Ricky from the kitchen and a plate appeared on the small plate deck. I picked it up and gave it to the customer at the bar. "Enjoy," I smiled at the man who thanked me in return. Roxy shows up by my side.

"Uh, we got a slight problem, Stella." I can feel my eyebrows pull together before she further explained. "He won't order unless you are his waitress."

I blink. "What?"

"He specifically requested you. Well, he more like described you, but we both know who he wanted. Can you do it?"

Oh no. I'm not going to look like a helpless little girl. I'm not going to let him hinder me anymore. "Of course." I walk away before she can reply. Taking a deep breath, I continue strolling until I reach his table.

"Hello. My name is Stella and I'll be your server today. Are you ready to order?" I pull out my notepad and purposely stare at it without looking at him. He doesn't respond so I glance from my notepad to him. I control myself not to gasp out loud. He's just as gorgeous as I remember. Actually, he probably looks even better.

"Hi, Stella," he grins at me. I narrow my eyes slightly and clear my throat.

"Hello. Are you ready to order?" I repeat formally. He sighs and stares back at me.

"I wanted to apologize for how I treated you yesterday. I was having an off day as you saw." I snorted slightly. Understatement of the year.

"Okay, I was being a complete ass. Is that better?" he smirks slightly.

"I guess it will suffice. It's in the past now. Just forget about it."

"See, that's the thing." He leans forward on the table a little. "I can't forget about it. More like I can't forget about you. The way I talked to you was…it should've happened. No matter how angry I was, it was in no way your fault."

I was still shaking a bit on the whole 'more like I can't forget about you' part of his small rant. He kept thinking about me? Why? He definitely didn't seem like he liked me very much in the first place.

"Well…apology accepted Mr…." I trail off as if I didn't know his name. I have to play this casually.

"Woods. Brandon Woods. Please just call me Brandon, though."

"Um, okay, Brandon. It's nice to meet you, but are you going to order now? I kind of have other customers to attend to." I laugh slightly.

"Oh! Sorry. I'll just have the Burger and fry combo. With a Sprite." He closes the menu and hands it back to me. Our fingers brushed together and it was hard to ignore the electricity that spread throughout my hand. He smiled. It was totally dazzling. I ginned back.

"Order coming right on up." I scoot back to the front kitchen to place the order with Ricky. I serve my other customers but can't help but glance over at Brandon a few times. He was waiting patiently. My type of guy. Well, actually I don't have a type to be exact. If I did, Brandon would totally fit the bill.

When his food was ready, I brought it over to him and he readily took it. "Here you are. Just tell me when you're done so I can bring you the bill."

"Thanks." I just smile and nod.

When he finally was finished, I brought over the bill. I was about to walk away again before he stopped me by gently grasping my wrist.

"Wait. I'm just going to pull out some money real fast. I wanted to talk to you."

"Uh, okay." I watch as he pulled out two twenty dollar bills which was around fifteen dollars more than the actual bill.

"You don't have to leave so much…"

He held up his hand with a smirk. "I can't help that I had such great service today. It's honestly my pleasure." He slipped the cash and something else I didn't catch into the bill card, before standing up. I didn't realize how tall he was. At least four inches taller than me.

"I think I owe you. You know, for an I'm-sorry-for-being-a-jerk coffee run during your lunch break tomorrow. If you want." he says a bit shyly. I can't believe such a confident man would actually be shy about asking _me_ out. It's mind-boggling but I couldn't help being giddy.

"Hmm…I do think that is in order," I say in a nonchalant manner. Or at least that's what I was trying to do, but obviously didn't do a good job since he chuckled. It was a heavenly sound that I wished I could record and use as my ring tone. _Whoa. I am starting to be on an obsessive level and I just met the guy._

"You get off for lunch at one or two?"

"Two," I chirp.

"Okay. Could you meet me at Alfea Corporations? That's where I work. It would be less of a struggle to get away from clients if you were there walking out of the building with me. If that's not possible I could just meet you somewhere…"

"No! I…I can meet you there. Just ask the receptionist for you?" What am I doing? I most certainly could not walk all the way to Alfea Corporations. It's way to far a walk from here. He couldn't know that though.

Brandon nodded and smiled brightly. "That would be perfect. Well then…I'll see you soon, Stella."

"See ya," I respond softly as he grinned once more and walked out of the diner. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. I still wonder what he does at that huge business place.

I open the bill card and see a small business card within. It says:

_Brandon Woods_

_CEO of Alfea Corporations: Technology and Architecture _

_Work number: 142-7598_

_Email address: Bwoods _

Well, now I know. I'm going on a date with the CEO of Alfea Corp.

* * *

**A/N: Hi again! Back with a new story and new character personalities. If you read this, Thanks for reading. If you read AND review this, you're my idol. Seriously. **

**If you read my first story, New beginnings, then I should tell you that this story is going to be completely different. Stella and Brandon in this story aren't going to be like Stella and Brandon from the first story. You're still going to love them, don't worry! And it's still Teen rating. These two are just going to have different personalities than in my other story. If you haven't read my other story, then disregard this message, lol.**

**I'm going to make this one a long story. I have so many ideas and drama that I can't wait to start with. Don't worry, I'm not going to pack on the drama right away. It will come gradually. **

**So…Review!**


	2. Invitation

**Chapter 2: Invitation**

Alfea Corporations is big. Not just big, humongous. Its building is silver and a solid black coloring. People are bustling in and out of the automatically sliding front doors. I am slightly overwhelmed and I haven't even set foot in there yet.

Bloom gave me a ride here after I begged her a million times over. She was annoyed, but agreed. I also borrowed a nice sundress from her since all my dresses were too small. I haven't worn a dress in years, but for some reason I felt like dressing up for this outing. I feel bad for asking stuff from her sometimes since she has already given me so much. Oh well. She'll live.

I take a deep breath and walk into the establishment. The inside was nicely decorated and as busy as the entrance was. One woman was sitting down, talking on her phone, drinking coffee, and typing on her computer at the same time. That's what you call multi-tasking. I search for a receptionist desk and find one in the middle of the first floor.

Stumbling slightly, I walk over to the front of the desk. The light haired brunette looked up and smiled kindly at me. "May I help you?"

"Um, yes. I…well Mr. Woods and I are…uh," What am I saying? Why am I so nervous? The truth is that I don't know what to call this outing we are having today. Is it a date?

The secretary saved me from further embarrassment by saying, "You must be Stella, Brandon's lunch appointment?"

_Lunch appointment? _So I guess this is like a business meeting to him. I frown a little on the inside at this. I knew it was too good to be true.

"Yeah. That's me." I laugh a little.

"I'm actually his sister. Flora. Nice to meet you!" We shook hands.

"Likewise. So, do I just wait here or…" I trail off as I see the man of the hour himself step off the elevator. _Damn it, does he not look hot?_ I swear he is like an Adonis. His deep brown eyes find mine instantly and he grins smoothly, walking over to me.

"Stella! Right on time I see," he says, joyfully. It's like he's actually ecstatic to see me. Why would _anyone _be ecstatic to see me?

"I try my best to be on time."

"Well, let's go then." He turned toward his sister/receptionist. "Forward my calls for the rest of the day, Flora." She nodded dutifully and gave me a quick smile.

"Have a nice lunch."

Brandon glances at me. "We plan to."

* * *

"Okay, I think I'm in car heaven right now," I sigh contently, sinking further into the passenger's seat of Brandon's Mercedes. I have never felt leather seats like these. They were pure bliss under my fingers and butt, of course.

Brandon laughed. "It's actually the newest model out. Got it two days ago. Runs pretty smoothly." He turns into the Café shop, parks, and turns to me. "Ready?"

I nod and we step out of the car. He holds his arm out to me. Laughing at his old chivalrous ways, I grab onto it. He smiles and we continue to the entrance. I try to ignore the closeness that we have right now. His scent is diving me crazy. It's like pinewood and mint and….Brandon. Just Brandon is the best way I can explain it.

We quickly found a small table for two near the window. I sat down and Brandon looked at me. "What would you like?" I took me a moment to realize he was talking about what kind of coffee I wanted.

"Oh, I'll take a black coffee. I'll add my cream when I get it," I say with a grin.

"Perfect," he replies and waits in the small line for the drinks. I doesn't take long for him to come back. He sets down my coffee in front of me and goes to sit across from with his.

"Thank you," I say.

"It was no trouble."

I grab the creamer on the table and pack it into the coffee. Glancing over at Brandon, I notice he isn't putting anything in his. "Do you just drink it black?"

He shrugs. "I like my coffee strong. I used to drink it with sugar, but I stopped a few years ago. This keeps me awake more." He explained.

"Hmm, interesting. I tried to do that once. Terrible idea on my part." I shuddered as I remember the taste. He chuckles.

"It's not for everyone, I will admit." Brandon leans forward, putting his arms on the table. "I tend to be a bit…different from everyone else. The stronger, the better." He winks at me which causes me to blush furiously. Does he think I'm strong? I mean, physically I can hold my own in a fist fight, but emotionally, I'm still a wreck.

I clear my throat. "So…Alfea Corporations is pretty huge." I suck at starting conversations.

"Yeah. It was kind of over whelming for me when I first started working there."

"How long have you been working there, anyway?"

He thought for a moment. "About seven years. Since I was 18, actually. My Dad passed it down to me as soon as I 'became of age' even though he is still fully capable of running it on his own." He shook his head. "Lazy old man."

I laugh and calculate his age in my head. He has to be at least 25. That's only a two year difference between us. "That must have been a lot of responsibility on your shoulders. You were so young."

He sighed. "It was, but I always knew I would continue the family name. It was just a matter of time. I didn't really want to do it at first, but I…had too."

I impulsively reach out my arm to put my hand on his. "I'm sorry. This shouldn't have been your responsibility so young." He seems a little startled and connects his eyes with mine. He looked sort of vulnerable at that moment. The moment was gone when he quickly shook his head and gently removed my hand.

"I'm fine." I narrowed my eyes slightly as he averted his. He obviously doesn't like to be open like that.

We were silent for a minute before he spoke again. "How long have you been a waitress? I mean, I know you must be new at the diner, but have you been working at other restaurants as well?"

"No this is my first waitress job. My first job actually…" Why did I just tell him that?

"Really?" He looked surprised.

I glanced away. "Yes." I felt his warm fingers under my chin, tilting my face back to him.

"That's nothing to be ashamed of, Stella." He is so sweet. I beam at him, even though there was a nagging thought in the back of my head.

_He has no idea what other things I deserve to be ashamed of._

* * *

We continue to chat happily about his life. He told me that Flora was actually his younger sister. His parents have been married for almost nineteen years with their anniversary coming up next month. He has two reliable co-workers, Sky, Riven, and Helia. I have no idea who Helia is, but I remember Sky and Riven.

I didn't want to tell him much about my life. He does know that my mother died of birthing complications when I was born, I'm an only child, and my Dad remarried to the evil witch stepmother of mine. He laughed at my nickname for her. I joined in as well because that laugh was so infectious.

At first our conversation was awkward, but as we continued talking, it got easy and smooth. I love how he pays attention to every detail I tell him. It makes me feel special in a way.

After a glance at his watch, Brandon solemnly announces that our lunch break is over. I am saddened at this, but I brighten when he asks to do lunch again tomorrow. Of course I say yes. Who could say no to that face? I give him my number and he offers to drive me back to Alfea Corp. to get my car, but I ask him to just take me back to the restaurant since I got a ride the first time. What he doesn't know is that I don't even have a car.

* * *

_3 weeks later…_

Peace. Quiet. Relaxation.

Today is Saturday. My day off. It felt so good not to have to wake up at 6:15 this morning. Bloom went into the office to get some work done while people weren't bugging her constantly. I can't blame her.

Brandon didn't call me yesterday, and he didn't come to the diner at all. Matter of fact, he hasn't contacted me in three days. He said he would call Friday, but as I said before, no call. I didn't think too much of it at first. Until Bloom found out.

"Oh, I'm sorry Stells," she said somberly.

My eyebrows drew together in confusion. "What are you sorry about? He probably had some business stuff he couldn't get out of."

"Or maybe he had some business stuff he didn't _want to_ get out of," she mumbled, loud enough so I could still hear her.

"What are you trying to say?" I huffed out.

"Nothing! He just may have…lost interest." I look away. He couldn't have lost interest that fast, could he?

Bloom walked over and patted me on the back. "I don't want to see you get hurt again, Stell. It's the only reason I'm saying this."

Who knows if she meant that. I think she did, but I also think she's a little envious of relationships I've had.

As I get up to grab something to eat, my cell phone rings. Brandon.

"Hello, stranger," I say sarcastically, a bit peeved that he ignored me for this long.

"I'm very sorry that I am now a stranger to you, beautiful," He says in a overly dramatic somber tone. We kind of have that playfulness with each other now.

"Well, it _is _your fault. What can I do for you?"

"I really am sorry, Beautiful," He said seriously. "I got caught up in this new deal we are trying to get through. That's not much of an excuse, but it's something, right?"

I smile. "I guess I can let you off this one time. Now, what is so important that you had to interrupt my lovely day off?"

"I was wondering if you thought anymore about accompanying me to my parents anniversary party."

Crap. The party. When he first asked me a few weeks ago, I was automatically on the fence. He doesn't know about Steven. Even though Steven and I broke up a few months ago, it doesn't mean I want another relationship right now. I mean, Brandon and I flirt a bit and sometimes he holds my hand, but it was harmless to me. Going to this party would definitely give the wrong idea.

I told him I would think about it, but he hasn't brought it up again until now. "Uh, well…I'm not sure that's a good idea, Brandon."

"Why not? Look, you don't have to consider it a 'date'. Well, my parents will consider you my date, but we'll know the truth, right? I just don't want to look like I can never get a girl to come with me to an event."

I snorted. "You can't get a date? Brandon Woods, CEO of Alfea Corporations can't find a date? I'm sure numerous girls are lined up just to _see _you. Then, there's me."

"I don't want any of those girls," he spoke softly. I shivered at his implication. He didn't want any of those girls. Translation: he wanted me. This isn't the first time he's said something like that. I know very well that Brandon may want more than friendship from me. I just can't give my heart to someone else right now. All the pieces aren't put together yet.

"Oh. That's…um…Okay?" I say nervously. He laughs.

"Relax and just say you'll go. Please?" he asks hopefully. I sighed.

"I don't have anything to wear." I'm going to use any excuse that I can to try and get out of this.

"Done. I'll have my sister's stylist help go out with you today and pick some clothing out," he said confidently. "Plus, you can bring Bloom if you would like. No more excuses, Stella. Yes or no?"

I groaned. "Fine. I'll go," I grumble.

"Thank you, beautiful. I'll have Flora and her team come over in about thirty minutes."

"I don't need your money, Brandon." That's a lie. My job may bring in some income, but not a lot. I have no formal attire and I can't just keep borrowing Bloom's. Brandon kind of knows about my financial strain, but not the full extent of it. "I'm not a charity case," I mumble, holding on to my dignity.

"I never said you were." He sounded shocked. "I just want to do something nice for you. Is that too much to ask?"

"I guess not…"

"Then Flora will be there in 30."

"Okay," I agreed. "And Brandon?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you," I whisper.

I can practically _hear _his grin. "That's what I'm here for."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to Forevertotheend, Smiles4eva, ShiningSunray, Ashley, Marisol, Brianna, and a guest reviewer for reviewing last chapter! Thanks to all who read as well.**

**So we get a little more character personality traits from Stella here. As you can see, she's a bit self-conscious and doesn't like asking for help, nor does she like opening up. Hmmm, the last one is probably something she and Brandon both share….**

**I know it seems like I'm going to fast and jumping all over. Sorry! I just hate keeping them separated. Don't you just hate stories where they don't end up with each other until the end of the story? I like for the characters to go through problems when they are in the relationship. First though, Stella has some heartbreak issues to work out.**

**So…Review!**

**P.S. Here is a Disclaimer for all chapters: I don't own any of the Winx Club Characters, just this story's plot line.**


	3. Why?

**Chapter 3: Why?**

"Ouch!" I winced as the seamstress poked me with the small needle. Again.

"Sorry, Miss," she apologized. I have been here at this expensive dress store for over an hour trying to find a dress. Now that I found one, they have to fit it on me. This is a major pain in the butt, but oh well.

Flora, who was leafing through a magazine in her chair, glanced up at me with a smile. "Only a little while longer, Stella. The end result will look fabulous. Just wait and see."

I nodded. "So I guess you're going to this event as well."

"Of course. The only thing that's different this time is my date and that Brandon actually has one." She giggled. "Seriously though, thanks for agreeing to go. You have no idea how excited he was when he called me to pick you up for this."

"He was excited?" I asked, still bewildered by the fact that he wanted me out of all people to go with him.

Flora rolled her eyes. "That boy is crazy about you." I look the other way so she wouldn't see my blush.

"Besides, if you didn't go, then he would be hanging around me all night. My boyfriend and I wouldn't have any time together. So in a way I should thank you."

"Your boyfriend, huh?" I winked at her as the seamstress poked me again. "Goodness! Alright, I think I'll be fine. You can just stop." I waved her off politely and she smiled back.

"Sorry again Miss." With that, she scurried off to the back room. Flora shook her head.

"I'm going to have to fire her soon. But anyway, yes, I have a boyfriend. Brandon may have introduced him to you. His name's Riven."

My eyes widened. "Riven? Like, Riven Riven? He's your boyfriend?" She nodded and I blew out a breath in disbelief. A nice and quaint girl like Flora isn't the type of girl I would imagine with Riven.

"He can be really sweet sometimes. And he was there for me after my…last breakup." She got a faraway look in her eyes, like she was remembering something not too pleasant. I decided it was a good time to change the subject.

I walk over to the mirror in my dress. It was an orange strapless dress with a sequined finish. "How does it look?" I ask.

"It looks like Brandon's eyes are going to fall out of his head when he sees you," Flora responded with a wicked grin.

* * *

The next day, I was ready. Bloom did my makeup after she did her own, and we were now sitting on the couch. Bloom looks over at me. "When exactly did he say he would be here?"

I looked over at the clock. "He should be coming now, I thi-" I am interrupted by the doorbell. I give Bloom a triumphant look and skip over to the door. She has about zero confidence in Brandon. It is stuck in her head that he will bring me nothing but pain and heartache. I've assured her numerous times that we weren't even in that type of relationship, but she didn't really believe me.

I opened the door and there stood Brandon with a bouquet of Gardenia flowers. "Hey," he greeted with a drop-dead sexy grin.

"Hi," I responded quietly.

"You look… absolutely stunning, Stella," he tells me in awe. I blush slightly.

"You don't look so bad yourself." We kind of just stand there and look at each other for a moment, before Bloom interrupts.

"Aw, now are those flowers for me? Brandon, you shouldn't have," she teased. I grinned as Brandon shook his head.

"Sorry, Bloom. These are for Stella," Brandon handed the flowers to me with a shy smile. "I remember you telling me you loved Gardenia flowers so… here you go." I definitely appreciated his attempt at romance and the fact that he remembered my favorite flowers. Grabbing the bouquet, I shyly grinned back at him.

"Thank you."

"The pleasure's all mine," He replies as Bloom snatches the flowers from me and runs to put them in water. "Are you ready to leave now?"

Before I can respond, Bloom comes rushing back into the room. "Of course! I have yet to meet my blind date. Let's get a move on people!"

* * *

The mansion we pulled up too was elaborately decorated. Streamers and lights were hanging everywhere outside. If it was this fancy out here, I'll probably be shocked out of my mind when I go inside. Brandon helps me out of the limo.

"My parents tend to go all out at stuff like this," He whispers in my ear. "Just stay with me. I'll make sure you don't get lost around here." I smile up at him and suddenly notice our closeness to each other. I can tell that he notices too, because his eyes glance down at my lips. _Oh no, he's going to kiss me!_ I knew this date was a bad idea, but I can't stop that nagging piece of my head telling me that I actually _want_ to kiss him too.

I break eye contact and turn my head away towards Bloom who is giving us a knowing look. Brandon clears his throat and steps away from me. "I guess we should head in now." Bloom and I nod so we make our way to the front door.

Like I thought before, I was blown away by the décor of the ballroom. The floor was pure white and so clean that you could see your reflection. I'm kind of scared to step on it because in true Stella fashion, I will definitely find a way to mess something up. Sky, Riven, and a man that I don't recognize and a woman I don't recognize come over to greet Brandon.

"So," Riven says, "You think you can just keep all the gorgeous woman to yourself don't you, Brandon? You're going to have to learn to share."

I laugh. "Shouldn't you be sweet talking your girlfriend, Riven?" As soon as I said 'girlfriend' the unknown man stiffens. Riven takes no notice though.

"You're right, sweet cheeks. If you all will excuse me," And with that he walks away in Flora's direction.

Sky smiles. "It's nice to see you again, Stella. This must be Bloom?" Sky looks at Bloom and she looks back in appreciation.

"Yes and you must be Sky." Bloom holds out her hand. "Very nice to meet you." Sky takes her and kisses the back of it.

"Likewise," He says with a grin. I can already tell without looking that Bloom is practically swooning at this point. Brandon turns me away from them.

"Stella, this is my other good associate, Helia." Oh, so _this_ is Helia.

"Hi! Brandon has told me lots about you and the company." I say. Helia gives me a polite smile.

"Brandon has told us a lot about you as well. I do hope you both enjoy yourselves tonight. This is my…girlfriend, Krystal."

We share the same styled greetings and then they walk away. I can't help but observe how Helia glanced in Flora's direction longingly. What's that about?

I look back up to Brandon. "Where did Bloom and Sky go?" Brandon chuckles and shakes his head.

"Who knows. They're probably already out dancing. How about we-"

"Well, if it isn't Brandon Woods," Brandon is interrupted by a pale, raven-haired beauty. She was wearing at least four inch heels and a short blood-red dress. I hear Brandon quietly sigh.

"Mitzi, I had no clue that you would be here. How's the family?" Brandon asks politely, but Mitzi's focus turned to me. She glared at me in such disdain that I almost shied away. What's her problem?

"Who's she?" She spat. Brandon grabbed my hand and pulled me gently towards him. "This is Stella. Stella, this is Mitzi. An old…family friend," he said with a forced smile. Something tells me that she is anything but a friend to him.

"It's nice to meet y-," I try to say but she rudely interrupts again.

"What do you do, Bella?"

Brandon's jaw clenches. "It's _Stella._ I'm not going to deal with this today Mitzi so don't start."

"What?" Mitzi blinks her eyes innocently. "I just wanted to know what she does for a living?" Her eyes swerved back to me. "So what do you do?"

"I'm a…waitress." I'm not ashamed of what I do, but from the way she laughed at me makes me think I should be.

"A waitress? You couldn't do any better than a waitress, Brandon. Come on now." She laughed some more as my cheeks burned in embarrassment. Not even for me; for Brandon. I knew I couldn't fit into his world. No one would accept a waitress.

"Mitzi, shut the _hell _up now," Brandon gritted out. I just shook my head.

"I'm going to go get something to drink," I pulled my hand from Brandon's and stalked away, disappearing in the crowd. I could her him calling out to me, but I wasn't listening. I found my way to the long snack and drink bar. I took a deep breath. This isn't how I planned the night going so far. Maybe it will get better. I feel a tap on my shoulder and I turn around.

Helia looks at me with a slightly concerned look on his face. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just… a little overwhelmed, I guess." He nods. We just stand there in silence, watching the couples on the dance floor. Helia seems to be concentrating on one couple in particular.

"Where's your girlfriend?" I would've said her name, but I forgot it.

"Oh, she went to the bathroom."

"Oh….Do you know Brandon's sister well?" Time to be little snoopy. Helia tore his eyes away from the dance floor and to me.

"Flora? Yeah we were good friends, I guess." he shrugged and looked down. For me, that's a sure sign of lying. Poor guy. I wonder what happened. Brandon begins to approach us.

"Are you alright? Mitzi is such a pain in the ass." He says, taking both my hands in his. They are comfortably warm.

"I'm fine, Brandon. Helia here kept me company." Brandon's eyes cut to Helia and narrow for a second.

"Thanks," he says shortly and looks back to me. "Would you like to dance?"

I nod and with a small wave to Helia, I allow Brandon to lead me onto the dance floor. It was a classic slow song that was playing. I put my hands on Brandon's shoulders as he wrapped his arms around my waist. It felt nice.

"So, I'm guessing you aren't enjoying yourself much tonight, huh?" When I didn't respond he chuckled humorlessly. "I'm sorry, Stella."

"It's not your fault. The night just started anyway. You have plenty of time to make it up to me," I smile to lighten the mood and it worked because he grinned back.

"Thanks for the opportunity." We sway quietly to the music.

"What's your favorite color?" Brandon asks abruptly.

"Uh… green, I guess. And pink sometimes. It all just depends on my mood. What about yours?"

"Grey," he answers.

"Grey?"

"Yeah, grey. What's wrong with grey?"

"Well, nothing really it's just a dull color. You don't like anything bright, like purple?"

"How is purple bright?"

"I don't know. It's brighter than grey."

He chuckled lightly. "Okay, so what if I change my favorite color to yellow-orange."

"That's a weird color combination. Why that?"

"It's the color of your eyes," he responds softly. I blush what I'm sure was a bright pink glow.

"Brandon…" Why does he keep saying stuff like that? He knows I'm not ready. I really do want to be ready though.

"I know, I know. It was just an observation," He smiled and kissed my forehead gently. I practically drown in his scent. Why can't I just let this wonderful man love me?

He pulls back. "Ready to meet my parents?"

* * *

**A/N: Whoa, sorry for the long wait. School isn't easy nowadays. Thanks for all the reviews. I just love 'em!**

**So Stella is still insecure and hasn't let Brandon in yet. I know you guys want some romance. Just bear with me! It's coming. Brandon just has to prove himself a little more. Oh, and he is going to loosen up some more next chapter. **

**What do you think is going on between Flora, Helia, and Riven? Oh, and does anyone recognize Krystal's name? Review and let me know.**

**No, I don't know when I'll update next, but I WILL update! I'm not just going to give up on the story, trust me! And if I do, I'll give you a heads up first.**

**So…Review!**


	4. Awkward Conversation

**Chapter 4: Awkward Conversation **

"Sure," I smiled nervously. Meeting Brandon's parents wasn't my wildest dream, but it seemed important to him.

We start walking towards the front of the ballroom, through the crowd of quiet laughter and chatter. Brandon laced his fingers through mine as we approached the main table. I wish he wouldn't do that because it would surely give his parents the wrong impression, but I couldn't bring myself to pull away.

"Brandon, darling," a woman with dark hair pulled back into a tight bun said. She smiled at Brandon with fond brown eyes. _This has to be his mother._

"Hey, Mom. I wanted to introduce you to my…" Brandon hesitated in answering. I can understand this. We aren't dating so he can't call me his girlfriend, but he obviously wants more than friendship so he wouldn't want to call me his friend. "My date. Stella."

I smiled at his mother. "Hi. Nice to meet you." I held out my hand for her to shake, but she dismissed it and pulled me into a short hug.

"It's nice to see that Brandon actually brought someone this year. Call me Nora." She pulled back and gave me a brilliant smile. I was still kind of shocked by her warm welcome, but I quickly recovered.

"Well, I'm happy to be here." Suddenly, a man comes up behind Nora and wraps one arm around her waist.

"Brandon! You told me you were bringing a date but you didn't say what a beauty she was!" I blushed as Brandon rolled his eyes.

"Keep your eyes on your wife, Dad."

Nora said teasingly, "He better or I'll throw all the casserole away." Mr. Woods blanched.

"Okay, okay. No more flirting. But it is nice to meet you…"

"Stella," I filled in. "It's nice to meet you as well." It was silent for a few beats.

"Well how about you two sit down here. I'd love to know all about you, Stella." She left no room for argument as she led me to the other side of the table, Brandon right behind us.

"Don't scare her away, Ma. I like this one," Brandon smiles down at me as I take my seat next to Nora.

We talk and laugh about benign things for a while. Brandon is simply glowing at me, knowing that I am getting along so well with his parents. They really do seem like great people. All was going really well until that one question popped back up for the second time this night.

"So, what is it that you work as, Stella?" Nora asked. I tensed slightly knowing she might not like the answer. I opened my mouth to speak, but Brandon said, "Why does that matter, Mother? We don't need to discuss that here of all places." Brandon's voice has hardened. Why is he acting like that? Is he ashamed of my job too?

Nora narrowed her eyes slightly in confusion at her son. "No need to get so defensive Brandon. I was simply curious is all. And I do believe Stella has a voice of her own," Nora snapped and looked back to me. _Man, these people can turn from one attitude to another like it's nothing._

Brandon was about to retort when I laid my hand on his knee. "It's okay," I whispered to him. He looked into my eyes and nodded slightly. I turned back to his parents and said, "I'm a waitress down at the local diner."

Mr. Woods was taking a drink of water when I said this and practically started choking on it. Nora was just looking at me with widened eyes and a gapping mouth.

"A… waitress? That's," Nora's eyes flickered over to Brandon quickly then to the other side of the room, avoiding my gaze as if she was uncomfortable. "That very…nice. And how long have you had this job?"

"Just a few weeks now. It's not much, but I get by."

Nora wrinkled her nose. "I'm sure it's not."

"Mom," Brandon snapped. Gosh. I knew this was going to happen. Why did Brandon even invite me when he knew I would be this much of an embarrassment?

"I think I'll just turn in for the night Brandon. It was nice meeting you Mr. Woods, Nora," I politely smiled to hold my last shred of dignity.

Nora looked up at me. "Please, just call me Mrs. Woods. It was nice to meet you as well." She and her husband stood up. "Have a good night. Brandon, I expect to talk to you later." With that, she walked off with her husband at her heels.

I stood with my back to Brandon. "I'll just…yeah." I tried to quickly walk away, but he caught onto my wrist and turned me around gently. "Can we talk alone for a minute? Please?"

All I wanted to do was go home and practically crawl up in a ball, but the pleading edge in his voice made me stop. I swallowed hard before nodding.

Brandon led me through a door outside and down a spiral staircase into some alleyway. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you brought me out her to kill me or something," I joked nervously.

Brandon just shook his head. "Never. I just wanted to talk to you away from everyone's prying ears."

"Okay…talk." It was a little chilly out here but nothing I couldn't stand. I really didn't like the smell of the garbage, though.

"You know that your job isn't a problem to me right?" Brandon asked. I averted my eyes from his.

"Look, if you just brought me out here to tell me we can't see each other anymore then whatever. Just get it over with," I mumble, trying not to let my tears of shame escape. Brandon comes closer to me and tilts my chin up.

"Why would you think that?" He asked it as if he was truly surprised. I'm suddenly surged with anger and snatch my chin away from his hand.

"You really don't think I don't understand what everyone is saying about me? I'm just a dumb waitress who got lucky that a you actually took interest in me. They probably think I'm some gold digging slut!" I am pacing back and forth in anger. Brandon just looks at me with an intense stare.

"I know _exactly_ what they all are thinking. 'Why would Brandon Woods pick up some waitress?' or 'I bet she doesn't even like him'. It's infuriating! I mean, why did you ask me to come if I was just going to be this huge embarrassment for you?" I stopped now and looked at him.

"Are you finished?" I just narrow my eyes at him and he steps forward to place his hands on my upper arms. "Stella, you are no where near an embarrassment for me. Just because everyone else here is about as shallow as a kiddy pool doesn't mean that I am too. I know that you aren't some 'gold digging slut'. Isn't that what matters?"

I sighed. "It should be but if everyone around you hates me then what position is that putting you in?"

He shrugged. "If they have a problem with you, they'll have to get over it. If they don't then they just won't have a position in my life at all."

"How could you say that?" My mouth was gapping like a fish. He practically just said that if people didn't like me then they could go jump off a bridge. Okay, not in so many words, but that's what it sounded like to me. "You would disown people for me?"

"I'm saying that the past month with you has been the best in my life and I plan on us spending a lot more together…if that's what you want." He said with those smoldering brown eyes. I was hypnotized by their power, but quickly shook myself.

"Brandon, I told you that I'm not ready for-"

"Is it really because of him or is it because of me?" My head snapped back up to him and I could see the hint of wounded pride and rejection in his eyes. I did this. I am causing him unnecessary pain.

"Of course not! I just got out of a long relationship. Like really long, you know that. He just kicked me out when he got bored of me. I thought he really cared but he didn't." I sniffled from the memories onslaught me from my last relationship. "How am I suppose to know you won't do the same?"

Brandon face softened and he brushed some of my hair away from the side of my face, grazing my cheek. "I'll prove to you that I am nothing like he was."

He drop one of his hands to my hip and dragged me closer. I laid my hands on his chest, intending to push him away but not seeming to have the will power to do it. I look up at his face as he drops his forehead onto mine.

"Starting now," He whispered. Then he did it.

He kissed me.

**A/N: Thanks soooooooo much for reading and reviewing! I know you guys want more sooner but school is getting pretty difficult so bear with me. Education comes first!**

**Sorry this is so short, but I felt bad for not updating so long. Hope you like it anyway. **

**I know I said Brandon would loosen up more, but I'm going to make it next chapter. When he is going to show Stella that he is **_**way**_** better than Steven!**

**So…Review!**


	5. Sick and Happy

**Chapter 5: Sick and Happy**

I sniffed the flowers that the delivery man just delivered to me. Or at least I tried to; my nose is really stuffy from my cold. I sniffled and smiled at the little note attached to the flowers.

_**Hope you feel better soon – Brandon**_

He was so sweet. Always thinking about me. We've been talking constantly for a couple of weeks now. Ever since that kiss, things have definitely changed between us. Something I would say that was for the better. I touch my lips slightly and grinned as I remembered that night.

_**Flashback**_

_**Brandon pulled back after five seconds to gauge my reaction. I was pretty dizzy from the world wind of emotions that his kiss gave me. All I wanted to do right now was kiss him again.**_

"_**Was that...okay?" Brandon asked softly. I rest my forehead back against his and breathed out shakily. **_

"_**It was more than okay," I said and looked him in the eyes. He searched mine as if to see that I was speaking the truth. He must have found what he was looking for because he smiled broadly and asked, "Well, do you mind me going in for seconds?"**_

_**I grinned back. "I don't mind at all."**_

_**End of Flashback**_

We stayed in the alleyway for a while just laughing and kissing. We aren't dating...exactly. At least I don't think so. Brandon's been pretty busy lately so we only really communicated with each other over the phone. We did have plans to meet today, but I got sick Thursday and had to take off today because I couldn't exactly contaminate the entire Diner. Roxy understood just fine. So did Brandon, even though I still felt incredibly guilty for cancelling on him. Damn immune system.

The doorbell rang and I almost immediately heard Bloom yell, "I got it!" Soon after, she came rushing into the room, pulling the hem of the knee length blood red dress down. Oh, yeah. I almost forgot Sky was taking her out tonight. Those two hit it off almost immediately and I'm pretty sure they're official. All Bloom will say is, "I don't kiss and tell..."

Bloom opened the door to welcome Sky in. "Well, hello handsome," she flirted. Sky kissed her cheek tenderly.

"Hey, beautiful. How are you Stella?" Sky waved at me and I was about to grin back but I sneezed instead.

Bloom gave me a sympathetic look. "She's a bit under the weather as you see. "

"Don't worry about me, you guys have a good time tonight!" I say moving towards the door to shove them out. Bloom gave me a small glare before I closed the door behind them. I sighed. Alone at last.

Maybe I can watch some movies. And eat some soup. Yeah, soup sounds good right now. I dragged my feet into the kitchen only sneezing once on the way. That seems to be an accomplishment for me today. I was just about to pull out the chicken noodle soup can when the doorbell rang once again. _Bloom must have forgotten something, _I thought, but to my pleasant surprise it wasn't Bloom.

It was Brandon.

In one hand he was holding a brown paper bag and in the other hand he had a few movies. His hair was a tousled mess on the top of his head but he never looked hotter to me.

"Hi," He said with a lopsided grin.

"What are you doing here?" Not that I wasn't glad to see him. I just wasn't looking very nice right now.

"Thought you could use some company. Plus, I haven't seen you all week. Sue me if I didn't like that very much. Now, are you going to let me in or let me freeze out here all night?" He asked sarcastically. I didn't even know that Brandon had a sarcastic side to him until about three days ago. I guess the kiss just opened a door for both of us.

I shook my head as though to clear it from my inner rambling. "Sure, sure. Come on..." I turned my face away and into my arm so I could sneeze. When I turned back to Brandon, he had his eyebrows raised. "In," I finished weakly. He smiled and walked past me, into the apartment.

He stood at the opening of the apartment just looking around. I stepped in front of him. "Uh...the kitchen is right over there," I pointed towards the right direction. "I'm just going to grab something really fast out of my room. Just...sit down and get comfortable, okay?" He nodded and went to the kitchen while I ran to my room.

Closing the door behind me, I hurried to my dresser for my brush and went to work on my hair. What is he doing here? I mean, I know what he said, but that couldn't possibly be the reason, could it? Maybe I'm just being paranoid; maybe he really is here to keep me company. Or maybe not. Whatever the reason, I'm ecstatic that he's here now.

I still didn't look so great, but it was the best I could do on short notice. I went back out into the den to see Brandon sitting down on the couch, flipping through the TV channels. "This is probably the first time I've ever seen you not in a suit before."

Brandon looked up at me as I walked in. "You said that you wanted to see more of who I am. This," He gestured to his jeans and white tee shirt, "is more me. Unless you prefer the suits."

"Nope. Not that you don't look sexy in that, too. But you look more...comfortable in this." I blurted out. Brandon slowly grinned.

"I look sexy in my suits?" He asked. I blushed and sneezed at the same time. Someone should really control my word vomit. Brandon chuckled and stood up to walk up to me. "Thanks. And just so you know, I think you look pretty hot in your uniform too." He muttered. I blushed even harder and hit his chest weakly.

"Shut up," I said looking away. He laughed and kissed my forehead.

"I'll go make you some soup. You should lie down. Pick out a movie we can watch. Please don't make it a chick-flick though." I nod and he walked into the kitchen.

I sat down and picked up his movie selections. _The Dark Night, Taken, _or _The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. _Two action movies and a horror. Definitely not watching any of them. I'll wait until Brandon comes back out and suggest _Twilight_ or something along those lines.

He eventually came out of the kitchen five minutes later, soup and spoon in hand. "Here, this should get you feeling a little better." I thanked him as he sat down next to me.

"So did you choose one yet?"

"Uh, all these movies aren't my types of movies," I said.

"What's wrong with them?"

I sneezed and looked at him. "I don't like guy-flicks."

"Guy-flicks? Never heard of that one, but okay... what do you suggest then?" I shrugged. In the end we decided to just channel surf. After I finished my soup, Brandon put his arm around my shoulders loosely, as if to invite my head to his shoulder. I happily snuggle up on his shoulder. Brandon tightened his arm around me. Every time I started drifting out of consciousness, I snapped my head up to stay awake. I didn't want to miss this time with Brandon. When he noticed this, however, he rubbed up and down my arm soothingly, leaving a fiery sensation in its quake.

"Go to sleep, Stell. You've had a long day I'm sure."

I tightened my hand on his shirt. "Don't leave," I mumble. Brandon paused before I felt his lips brush my forehead.

"I wouldn't think of it," he whispered. I yawned and then smiled. That soup seemed to do the trick for my cold.

"Thanks, Brandon."

"No problem sweet cheeks," he teased. I pinched his arm. "Ow!"

"Never call me that again."

Brandon rubbed his arm. "Alright, alright. "

I yawned again. "Brandon?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't hurt me," I whisper tiredly. I know he understands what I mean. There's no way he couldn't. Brandon shifts so my head comes of his shoulder and then turns my face towards him.

"I plan on making you the happiest woman on earth, Stella. I don't think I have it in my power to hurt you." He swiped my cheek with his thumb.

I sniffled. "What about when we first met?"

Brandon rolled his eyes playfully. "Okay, that one doesn't count."

"Yes it does."

"No it doesn't."

"I think it does."

"I don't."

I smiled sleepily. "Fine. We can agree to disagree."

"I guess so. Now go to sleep, Stell. You sound like your about to pass out now," He said softly.

"Okay." I yawned again. Just before I dozed off, I said, "Brandon?"

"Yes?"

"Goodnight."

He chuckled. "Goodnight, Stella."

* * *

**A/N: First of all, like always, I want to quadruple thank everyone who read, reviewed, and liked last chapter. I loved it all! You guys are awesome.**

**Second of all, I'm sooooooooooo sorry for this late update. Hope you enjoyed it! Your continued support gave me the start to finish this chapter up.**

**Did Brandon loosen up enough for you? This is going to be a side of him that maybe Stella will exclusively see only. Who knows? Anything can happen. Next Chapter a little drama will begin. Beware...**

**Okay, excuse time. School, television, and **_**The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (Awesome movie by the way!) **_**all contributed in this late update. Blame them! Lol. I'm not sure when I'll update next but hopefully it won't be as long as this interval was. Of course, I have to know if you guys even want me to do more...**

**So...Review!**


	6. Big Opportunities

**Chapter 6: Big Opportunities **

2 week later….

"Order up!" Ricky yelled from the kitchen. I grabbed the two plates on the counter and rushed them over to the couple waiting. I almost slip on an ice cube on the way, but I seem to have some really nice reflex skills working today. After setting down the plates with a smile, I go back behind the counter to find that dangerous ice cube.

Roxy comes up to me with a smile. "Your regular is here again," was all she said before disappearing to the kitchen. A silly grin appeared on my face, like it always did. I wiped up the rest of the mess and made my way over to the familiar table.

I took out my pad and pen to take the order. "Hello and welcome Sunshine Diner. What would you like today?"

"Hmm…" Brandon pretended to think a moment. "How about a burger and…you? That sounds perfect to me."

I shook my head. "Sorry, sir, but that's not on the menu."

"Alright. I guess I'll just take you then." Brandon smiled, dazzling me.

"I meant the burger is on the menu but I'm not, hot stuff." I tapped his forehead with my pen. "I don't get off 'til six."

Brandon grabbed one of my hands and rubbed him thumb across the back of it. "I talked to Roxy. She said you more than deserve to get off a couple of hours early."

What? I slipped my hand from his grasp gently. "You did what? Brandon, I don't need her thinking that I'm lazy or anything. I need to work."

"Relax, Stella," A voice came up from behind us and I turned to see it was Roxy. "Take the rest of the day off. There isn't a huge crowd. I don't want any arguing either." She smiled and skipped over to her next customer.

I turned back to Brandon to see him looking at me expectantly. "See?"

"Did you turn your charm on her or something?" I asked, still not believing Roxy would just give me the day off.

"Charm? I wasn't aware that I had any charm. Even if I did, it wouldn't matter."

I rolled my eyes. "How do you figure that?"

"I don't know. I just have a feeling that she wanted you to have fun. Now come on, I have a very important proposition for you."

"Proposition?" I question as he pulls me out of the diner. Before the door shuts behind us I hear Roxy shout, "Have fun you two!"

* * *

Brandon won't tell me what his 'proposition' is all about until we get to his office. We had been going pretty strong these last two weeks. He makes it a point now to come to the diner almost every day and ask to see me. I love that he cares that much. He takes time out of that busy schedule of his to see me almost every day. That is definitely the commitment that I love from a man.

Once we arrived at Alfea Corporations, Brandon grabs my hand and we walk into the building together. Flora is at the receptionist desk typing away at her computer when we approach. She smiles a confused smile at me.

"Stella? Not that I'm not happy to see you but what are you doing here?"

"She's here with me, nosey. Just forward my calls for me would you?" Brandon asked.

Flora narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not nosey, just curious." She reached her hand out to grab the phone and I couldn't help but notice the sparkly diamond ring on her left finger.

I gasped. "Oh my goodness! You're engaged!?" She blushed and glanced away.

"Uh…yeah. Riven proposed last night," she said smiling slightly. She looked a little wistful as she glanced down at the ring and I couldn't help but think of Helia's longing expression when he looked at her at the ball. Nevertheless, I grinned and reached across the desk to hug her.

"Congratulations!" She thanked me and I turned to see Brandon rubbing the back of his neck.

"I guess I should have noticed the ring before now, huh?" Flora just chuckled.

"It's fine, Brandon. I'll forward the calls." She finally did pick up the phone and with one last smile, Brandon led me to the elevator. We were the only ones in here, which I was glad for because I had a few questions.

"Hey, what ever happened between Helia and Flora?" I ask Brandon. He looked over at me.

"I don't really know. I mean, they were really good together in my opinion. Neither one of them wanted to leave the other's side. It got pretty disgusting since they were always sucking each other's face off." He shuddered at the memory.

"Wait, so they were together? As in dating?" The elevator dinged, signaling that we were on the right floor. As we stepped off, Brandon replied, "Yeah. They were together for a while, too. Almost two years actually." He unlocked his door and stepped to the side to allow me entrance first. I smiled to myself at this gentlemanly action.

"So, one day they just…broke up?" I inquire as I sat down in one of his comfy chairs.

"Well…yeah. I just remember Flora coming to my house in the middle of the night crying. She said 'I never want to see him again'. I'm not really good with crying women, but I didn't ask too many questions." Brandon said.

That seems fishy to me. I mean, I wonder what Helia must have done to ruin a two-year relationship. I hope he didn't cheat on her like other boyfriends I know too well.

"Wow. I wonder what happened." I say. Brandon comes over and sits on his desk in front of me, leaning down towards my face.

"Yeah me too, but I didn't want to get all in her business." I had to respect that, but jeez. He could have found out something!

"I guess. Now, what is this proposition that you have for me?"

"Well you know how I was telling you how work has been getting pretty heavy lately, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah and I told you to try getting a personal assistant."

"Right! I have about five people lined up for the job right now. All I have to do is call the one I want to have the job. The thing is…I wanted to ask you first."

"You wanted to ask me if you could have an assistant?" I tilted my head back to look at him a little better. I still haven't gotten over how handsome he really is.

"No. I wanted to ask you if _you_ wanted to be my assistant." He beamed at me and I froze, dumb-struck.

I can't work for Brandon. I mean, it's a nice idea to work _with_ him but not _for_ him. Just the idea makes me feel squirmy. I guess it's that feminist part of me.

I stand up and stand behind the chair. "Uh…Brandon? I don't think I can do that."

"Why not? I thought it was a pretty good idea."

"Look, I appreciate the offer, but I'm fine at the diner."

Brandon arched an eyebrow. "Really? It's a nice diner and all but why would you not want to work here instead?"

"It's just… I don't want to be all dependent on you." My shoulders slumped. Brandon immediately stood up in front of me and put his hands on my shoulder.

"How would working here make you dependent on me?"

"If I worked for you then that means you have complete control over my employment. I don't…like that thought. It reminds me how powerless I was in my…last relationship."

Brandon ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I didn't think of it like that, Stell. I'm sorry. You know I wouldn't try to take advantage of you like that, right?"

"Yeah, I know." I smiled and stepped closer to him so I could wrap my arms around his neck. "You're nothing like Steven. I'm just more comfortable at the diner."

"Alright, alright. I guess I'll just have to pick one of the applicants tonight and have them come in for an interview tomorrow," Brandon grumbled. I smiled and stroked the back of his head with my fingertips.

"Aww, cheer up. I'll come by when you interview the person tomorrow if you want. I could give my honest opinion." I suggested.

Brandon pecked my lips. "That would be nice. I'll text you when I have the time."

I untangled my arms from around his neck as he went to his desk to look through some files. Then a sudden thought occurred to me.

"Are these applicants…women?" I questioned, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Yeah. Not many male personal assistants." Brandon laughed. When I didn't laugh with him he glanced up at me.

"Oh, come on, Stell. I'm pretty sure not even one of those girls comes close to you."

_We'll see._

* * *

**A/N: Thanks sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooo much for reading and reviewing! You have no idea how much it means to me.**

**Sorry if there is a lot of grammatical errors in this one, didn't have time to look it over completely!**

**So what do you think about Flora and Riven? What do you think went down between Flora and Helia? More of that love saga to come.**

**Three guesses on who you think will be interviewed for Brandon's personal assistant job? I think some of you might know.**

**So…Review!**


	7. Jealous Interviews

**Chapter 7: Jealous Interviews**

I knock on Brandon's office door twice before he answered with, "Come in."

Stepping quietly into the room, my eyes immediately zoned in on him at his desk, going over some paperwork. His head is still down so he doesn't know that it's me who has entered.

"You know, Mr. Woods, it's very unsafe for you not to know who is entering your office." I smile as he lifts his head. Grinning crookedly at me he says, "I guess you're right about that. It's a very bad habit of mine."

He stands up in his tailored grey suit that fits him in all the right places and saunters over to me. "Not that I didn't already know that you were the one knocking on my door anyway."

I lifted my eyebrow. Well at least I tried but both of them ended up being lifted instead. "And how exactly did you know that?"

"No one knocks on my door all quietly like that except for you." He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me in closer to him. Brandon leans down and kisses my ear before whispering, "Hello, Beautiful." I shiver slightly at his touch and cool breath. This man is going to be the death of me.

"Hello yourself." He leans back to look in my eyes, but still keeps me close in his arms. I wrap my one of my arms around his neck and use my other hand to lightly touch the dark shadows under his eyes. "You haven't been getting any sleep, have you? I told you about that, Bran-"

He cuts me off with a short kiss that I feel from head to toe. "I know, I know. That's why once I have my assistant I can get more rest. Now just relax would ya?" Brandon's been working nonstop trying to get some new program up and running at Alfea Corp. I know he's busy, but he has to get some rest every once in a while. That's why I'm even more determined to help him find the best assistant there is today.

"You still have to take care of yourself first, Brandon." I scolded lightly. Brandon rolled his eyes.

"I'll see what I can do about that later. Right now I really want to kiss this stunningly gorgeous woman, but…"

I glare at him playfully. "But what?"

"She's kind of acting like my mom right now. And you know I'm not into all that incest stuff so…" I slap him on the arm and he laughs. "Seriously, Stells. Relax. I'll be fine. Once this new software launch is started right, I'll be back to cuddling up with you on Saturdays. Okay?"

I nod reluctantly. "Okay. So now that I'm not acting like your mom anymore…" I trail off as he grins wider and bends down to kiss me into submission. We were so lost in each other that the door opening behind us didn't register until we heard Riven cry out. "My eyes! My eyes!"

I pulled away from Brandon to see Riven covering his face dramatically, Sky looking slightly disgusted, and Helia smirking at Riven's obvious discomfort.

Brandon scowls at them all. "Have you people ever heard of knocking?"

"Well I'm _so_ sorry. We didn't know you would be in here eating your girlfriend's face off." Riven laughed. I hid my red face in Brandon's neck. This is _beyond_ embarrassing.

"Who invited them?" I mumble into Brandon's neck. His arms tighten around me as he lets out a chuckle.

"Well, I thought I was going to need the all the advice on this whole assistant thing that I could get so I asked them to tag along." Brandon explained and glanced at his watch. "As a matter of fact, the first interviewee should be here in about ten minutes."

I look up from Brandon's neck and glance over at the guys. Sky is now leaning against the wall with Helia and Riven is sitting in Brandon's desk chair.

"Let's get this show on the road."

* * *

Brandon sighed as the door slammed shut. Again. "Stella what was so wrong with her? She seemed like a good fit."

I shook my head. "She was too fidgety. Being that nervous isn't going to get you anywhere in this business right?" I'm such a bad liar. The real reason was because she was way to… _fitted…_ into that short attire of hers. Why is every interviewee so far a woman?

Sky sighs deeply from behind me. "Look that was the fourth one today you have sent packing. We aren't going to get anywhere is you don't choose one soon. I mean, how many are there left to interview?"

Brandon looks back down at his files. "Only two left." He glances at me and I look at the ground, biting my lower lip. What can I say? There is this bubbling feeling in the pit of my stomach that I keep getting each time these girls even grin at Brandon. They were obviously all struck by his handsomeness and I didn't like it at all.

"Look babe. I only have two people left to choose from and I can't just turn them away, alright? Plus, the next person who comes up here is going to not…make me very happy." Brandon said tiredly. I nod and place my hand on his.

"I'm sorry. I just want the best for you. I'll be objective from now on, I promise." He nods and smiles slightly. The intercom on Brandon's phone comes on.

"Brandon, your next interviewee is here." Flora's voice floats through the phone. She sounds hesitant and maybe a little nervous.

Brandon presses a button and replies, "Send her up." Great. Another female.

Riven quickly reaches over and hits the same button on the phone before saying, "Hey baby, you want McDonald's tonight?" Brandon swats him upside the head and I giggle.

Flora laughs and answers, "Whatever, Riven." Riven smiles broadly and steps away from Brandon's glare. I can't help but glance over at Helia to see that he is stubbornly looking straight ahead of him. His face seemed to contort like he was in pain. No one noticed but me. The door swung open to reveal a less than appealing face.

Mitzi.

Her harsh words at Brandon's parent's wedding anniversary are still ingrained in my mind. She's wearing a bright yellow sundress and her long black hair was swept to the side. Her sights latched onto Brandon right away. "So we meet again, Mr. Woods."

Brandon breathed out harshly and closed his eyes. It seemed like he was trying to reign in some of his anger right now. "What in the _hell_ are you doing here Mitzi?"

Mitzi sat down in the chair in front of Brandon's desk and stretched her arms. "For an interview, _obviously_. Why else would I be here?"

"To waste my time, _obviously_, because there's no way I'm even considering giving you a job at my company. Ever." Brandon said heatedly.

"Oh, relax yourself Brandon. You know you need me and my expertise. Just look at my resume' and tell me I don't." Her lazy gaze slipped to me and narrowed. "So I see you haven't gotten rid of the waitress yet, huh?"

"You don't speak of her," Brandon snapped. "You might as well leave now."

Mitzi shook her head innocently. "I have done nothing wrong. As soon as you review the application I filled out, I will leave." While Brandon and Mitzi continued in their angry stare-down, Sky picked up Mitzi's application off of the desk.

"Uh, Brandon?" Sky said.

"What?" Brandon asked without taking his eyes off Mitzi. His shoulders were so tense I thought they were about to pop. I put my hand on one and gently rubbed it. He relaxed a bit but not much.

"I think you should look this over. She does have a pretty impressive-" Sky stopped talking when he saw the death glare Brandon was giving him. He tosses the application back on Brandon's desk without a word.

Brandon isn't going to calmly end this interview so I think I should do it for him. "That will be all…" I look down at the papers for her last name. Brandon tries to cover it up but I see the name before he can. "Ms. Woods?"

I look at Brandon in astonishment to the fact that this woman has his last name. It can't be a coincidence.

"What? Oh, Brandon didn't tell you that I happen to the long lost big sister he just loves so much?" Mitzi smiles widely and with extra fake exuberance. "Why didn't you tell your girly friend over here about that Brandon?"

I'm still looking at Brandon, but he wouldn't look at me. His face was blank. He is wearing the same look he gets when he wants no one to see his emotions on his face.

"Get. Out." Brandon says evenly. The room feels like it just dropped 20 degrees.

Mitzi sighs exaggeratedly and stands. "Well, I guess it's time to blow this Popsicle stand." She switches over to the door and before she exits she looks over her shoulder and says, "Tootles, brother dearest."

The room is silent for ten heartbeats before I speak up. "I thought she was an old family friend."

Brandon closes his eyes and tilts his head back against his chair. "I only wish."

I am still very confused. He…lied to me. Why? I mean, why would he lie about his own sister? I figure this conversation is for another time though. I will definitely get to the bottom of this.

Riven whistles long and low. "That wasn't pleasant whatsoever."

"Let's just get through this last interview and then we all go home. Sounds like a plan?" I tilt my head towards Brandon and he looks at me. I smile encouragingly and Brandon pulls me close to his side to kiss my temple.

"Thank you," Brandon whispers in my ear. I warm at his thanks and sit back in my seat. He's not saying thank you for me calming him down. He's saying thank you because I didn't flip out and ask questions about Mitzi.

Yet.

Flora announces that the next interviewer is coming up. A few minutes of silence later and the door opened to a beautiful, tall, busty blonde. Her skirt was way too high and her hips were swaying way too much. I immediately narrow my eyes. Her hair was perfectly curled in contrast with my straight locks. I don't like her. I don't like her AT. ALL. I especially don't like the fact that she had her eyes zeroed in on Brandon.

Riven was openly gaping right now along with Sky, but at least Sky tried to disguise his amazement. Even Helia's eyes widened. I snapped my head over to Brandon. I can't exactly read his face. It's perfectly blank. It's like he didn't want anyone to see his emotions at that moment.

I think that's what hurts the most.

She sits down in the chair Mitzi previously sat in and not once did she break eye contact from Brandon. Crossing her legs she exclaims, "Mr. Woods! It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I have heard only great things. My name is Diaspro. Diaspro Flowers." Her voice has a slightly seductive edge to it that I'm sure was meant the lure men in.

Brandon leans forward and looks down at her file. "That's always good to hear, Miss. Flowers. I reviewed your application earlier and I must say that I'm quite impressed. Your references are excellent as are your previous works."

"Yes, I do have plenty of experience in the personal assisting area." Diaspro smiles crookedly and I want to slap that smirk right off her face. That bubbling feeling in my stomach is coming back full force now. It's a feeling of anger and possessiveness mixed in with a little insecurity. It can only be one thing I am feeling right now.

Jealousy. It is now possibly one of the worst feelings that I have ever experienced.

This girl is the kind of girl that I thought guys like Brandon actually looked for at first. The fact that he wants to be with me is still astounding. So when I see girls like Diaspro trying to flirt with my man, I get pissed. And…jealous. Gosh, jealousy is a terrible thing.

When Brandon arches his eyebrow at her, I think I almost lost it. I reach over and slam her folder shut. The sound echoes around the entire room.

Turning towards Diaspro I smile, "Thank you for your time. You may leave." Diaspro drags her gaze to me and sees me for the first time.

"I do believe the interview I am here for is from Brandon Woods. No one...else. So I do believe I will be leaving when _he_ asks. No one…else." She states snottily and turns back to Brandon.

Brandon clears his throat before I can reply. "That will be all Miss Flowers. Thank you. I will call personally if you have the job." Oh, if I have anything to do with it, she will most _definitely_ not be getting that call.

She nods slowly and stands, extending her hand towards Brandon. "It was nice to meet you again, Mr. Woods." Brandon shakes her hands quickly and nods.

"Same here."

With one last look in his direction, she sauntered out of the room. The office was silent once again until Riven coughed.

"Yeah. I think you should definitely give her that call," Riven laughed. Helia snapped his eyes over to Riven.

"I didn't think your _fiancé_ was so lenient with you checking out other women." Helia inquired.

"I don't think it's any of _your_ business what _my_ fiancé thinks at all," Riven replies with narrowed eyes.

"Shut up you two. I'm not in the mood for that today." Brandon orders them. He lets out a gust of air and rubs his face with his hand. "So I guess we're done for the day then."

"Wait," I say. "Who are you thinking of choosing?"

Brandon's eyebrows draw together in confusion. "Uh, Diaspro of course. Who else?"

"Uh, not Diaspro!" I exclaim. Was he seriously going to consider that?

"Stella, she's a perfect candidate for the job. Better than all the rest. Why wouldn't I pick her?"

Sky shakes his head. "Dude, you know absolutely nothing about women, do you?"

I stand up and cross my arms. "He obviously doesn't if he thinks I'll be okay with this."

"Stella, you can't be serious right now."

"I've never been more serious in my life."

We stare at each other for a minute before Brandon shakes his head. "I'm not doing this with you, Stella. She the best option so I'm hiring her."

I was basically seeing red at that point. This jealousy thing is really a pain in the ass. "You hire her and I _promise_ you that you won't be seeing me again," I threaten icily. Brandon looks at me like I'm crazy or something and pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Gentlemen, leave so I can have a minute to talk to Stella."

"No! Don't bother _gentlemen. _I'll go." I grab my purse and coat off the rack next to the door. Brandon is standing now.

"Stella, goddammit, just calm down! Let's just talk about this." He tried to rationalize but I was beyond being rational. I swung the door open.

"Oh, and when your dialing her phone number tonight, lose mine." And with that, I slam the office door shut.

**A/N: Thank you to all who have been reading and reviewing. I love you all!**

**So… I bet you didn't see that coming did you? Poor Brandon. Sometimes men really don't understand. LOL. Do you blame Stella for being angry? What do you think Brandon will do about the whole situation?**

**Was that Mitzi part surprising to you? Why does Brandon despise her so much? More information on that as we continue.**

**Someone reviewed telling me they were ready for some jealousy. I hope that led up to your standards!**

**Okay I know It took like over a month for me to update again. Sorry! That's why I made this one extra-long for you ;) **

**Oh, and you just wait. You won't even imagine what drama is headed Brandon and Stella's way next chapter. But I have to know what you guys think for me to continue….**

**So…Review!**


	8. Jealous Arguments

**Chapter 8: Jealous Arguments**

The elevator ride down to the main floor was awful. My eyes are strained from trying to hold angry tears at bay, the feeling in the pit of my stomach won't go away, and my mind kept running over its own thoughts like a multiple car crash.

_What the hell is his problem? Why are men so stupid? Is that what he really wants in a girl? Why did he lie about Mitzi? How can he not understand my position on this? Does he just not care about my opinion?_

These thoughts kept assaulting my mind as the doors finally slid open. I knew I was being over dramatic about this, but I couldn't help it. I rushed out of the elevator and was almost out of the door when someone called out to me.

"Stella! Where are you going?" Flora asked as she caught up to me near the exit.

"I'm leaving, what does it look like?" I respond in a shaky voice. _Pull it together Stella. You're stronger than this._

"What? Why? I thought we were all going out for dinner together." Flora looked so innocent and confused, but I didn't have time for that now. My anger was starting to seep back in.

"Look, Flora, I have to go. If you want to know what happened just ask your brother." I turn to walk away but she grabs my arm.

I spin back around fast. "What?!"

"How are you getting home? Didn't your friend drop you off?" Dammit, she did. Bloom gave me a ride before she went to work. I couldn't call her from work to pick me up just because I'm mad at my boyfriend.

"Uh, yeah. I'll just walk or something."

Flora shook her head. "No way! Just… wait for like five minutes, okay? I'm going to get Riven from Brandon's office and I'll give you a ride home."

"Oh, no Flora. I'll be fine just wal-"

"Come on Stella, it's the least I can do," she pleaded. I bit my lip and thought. It _is_ a pretty long walk from here to my apartment…

I sighed. "Okay. Alright, I'll wait outside." Flora smiled and gave me a quick hug before rushing towards the elevator. I walk outside and immediately feel the chill in the air. Even with my light jacket I shiver slightly. It wasn't nearly this cold earlier. That's November weather for you. My phone chirps in my purse and I pull it out to see it's my Dad texting me again. He's been texting more than usual lately to see if I was coming down for Thanksgiving.

I toss my phone back in my purse. I'll deal with that later. Maybe going back home will be a good idea or maybe not. I sit down on the wooden bench against the building. Closing my eyes, I exhale slowly, trying to calm down some more.

"Excuse me, miss? Is this seat taken?" My eyes pop open at the smooth voice. I didn't even hear the man approach.

"Not at all. You can sit here." I reply. He smiles and gently sits down next to me. From what I can tell he's a pretty tall guy with long hair way lighter than mine; it was almost white in color but looked very nice on him.

He turned towards me slightly. "You look familiar. Have we met before?" He asks in that silky voice yet again. I shake my head, not remembering ever meeting this man.

"Oh, well let me introduce myself. I'm Baltor Ridely." He holds out his hand.

"I'm Stella. I believe I've heard my boyfriend speak of you before." And if I was correct, this is the same Baltor Ridely who tried (and is still trying) to take Brandon's company from him.

Baltor's eyebrows rose. "Who would your boyfriend happen to be?"

"Brandon Woods." I pointed to the building right behind us. "CEO slash owner of Alfea Corpor-"

Baltor waved his hand in the air. "I know Mr. Woods very well actually. We go… way back." He grinned again. I wanted to say it was an evil grin or a creepy one, but I couldn't. He simply had a very nice smile. As we all know, though, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

I was about to respond when a hard shiver rocked my body. Damn this cold. Baltor noticed and quickly took off his jacket. Before I could stop him, he put it around my shoulders.

"You really didn't have to do that. I'm fine."

He chuckles. "You certainly didn't look fine shivering like you did. Now tell me why Brandon would let his stunningly gorgeous girlfriend sit all alone in the cold?" I blushed slightly at the compliment but also in discomfort. I may be mad at Brandon, but I'm most certainly not going to flirt with other guys with or without his presence. I was about to hand Baltor his jacket back when the voice that both stops and speeds up my heart spoke from the main entryway.

"That, Mr. Ridely, would be none of your damn business." Brandon was talking to Baltor but looking at me. I couldn't exactly read the look on his face. It was a cross between anger and something else. Behind him were Flora and Riven.

I stood up and stared Brandon right back down. He narrowed his eyes at me and spoke to Baltor again. "What I would like to know is why _you_ are alone outside with my stunningly beautiful girlfriend." His gaze slid to the man in question. Baltor just grinned.

"Well, if you must know, we were just having a lovely chat. The poor thing was so cold though, so being the gentleman I am, I gave her my coat." He smiled at me and I turned away, looking back at Brandon. He was staring at the coat like it committed murder or something. I rolled my eyes and shrugged off the coat, handing it back to Baltor.

"Thank you, but I'll be leaving now. It was nice to meet you." I walked over towards Flora. Before I reached her, Brandon's arm shot out and wrapped around my waist. I turned around and glared up at him but he just tightened his hold.

"Whatever business you wanted to discuss with me can wait until a later time, Mr. Ridely. I would like for you to get away from my establishment before I have to gather security to escort you away." Brandon stated like he was explaining an easy math problem. The words don't sound like they were new coming from his mouth.

Baltor nodded and smiled at me again. "It was nice meeting you Stella. I hope we can get together sometime and cha-"

"Get the hell out of here!" Brandon shouted. Baltor laughed and with one last wink at me, he jumped into his car and took off. We all just stood there for a moment before Brandon turned his icy scowl to me. "What were you doing with him?"

I shoved him away from me so his arm fell away from my waist. "I didn't do anything, Mr. Friendly. Baltor just-"

"Oh, so you two are on a first name basis now?" Brandon interrupts.

I huffed. "Excuse me? What are you insinuating?"

"I just want to know how you can get so buddy-buddy with someone you just met. Let alone my biggest business competition!"

"Well, I wouldn't be out here at all if it wasn't for _your_ dumbass! 'She's the best choice Stella. Why wouldn't I choose her Stella?'" I imitate his voice angrily.

Flora pipes in. "Um, guys? You both are getting too angr-"

"Oh, don't start this crap again, Stella! You getting all cozy with the enemy has nothing to do with her!" Brandon shouted.

"It has everything to do with her! You know how I feel about this and you just go against my wishes anyway."

Brandon pulled at his hair. "What wishes?! You haven't told me anything! All you did was run out of the office like a four-year-old!"

"Oh, screw you Brandon!" My face had to be red with the effort I was putting into yelling at him. "Flora, take me home, please. I can't even look at his face right now."

Brandon barked out a harsh laugh. "Yeah, I'm sure you can't. You get mad at me so you throw a temper tantrum and flirt with the first guy you see. That sob story you gave me before was all a joke, huh? That ex-boyfriend of yours wasn't the cheater. It was obviously the other way around."

I don't remember doing the action exactly. I just remember the sound that my hand made when it collided with his cheek. His head turned to the right and stayed there. I got closer to his face. "How dare you," I hiss. "You really are the ass I thought you were when we first met."

I felt Flora pull me away from him. "Let's go Stella. Now." I turned around and let her guide me to her car, tears freely flowing down my cheeks now. I didn't look back. Not even when he called out to me.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. You got jealous because this chick was trying to be Brandon's assistant and he got jealous because this dude was flirting with you. Then you slapped him for mouthing off at you and you haven't talked to each other in two days because both of you are too stubborn to pick up the phone first. Did I get it all?" Bloom asks while I lay on my bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"Three days actually," I answer. It was all true but sounded so stupid and juvenile when it was said out loud. I haven't seen, spoken to, nor communicated with Brandon at all since our falling out Thursday. It is now Sunday and I've been itching to just go to his house and squash all this drama. I don't want to fight anymore but every time I pick up the phone to call him I think that if he wanted to talk to me, he would call me first.

Bloom shook her head. "You two are the most pathetic, stubborn people I have ever met. Just call him or something! You've been moping around all weekend." She pulled me up out of bed much to my displeasure.

"Leave me alone, Bloom. I'm tired," I groaned, standing up.

"No can do, Blondie. I have company coming over and I need you out for the night. Go get dressed and make up with Mr. Rich pants already."

The doorbell rang and Bloom smiled. "Well, there's my company right now." She skipped over to the door. "Get dressed," she called over her shoulder before closing the door. I sighed. Normally I wouldn't listen to her when she got all bossy like that but she's actually right this time. I need to get a grip of myself.

After taking a quick shower and everything, I head out of the room to see Bloom's guest. I already knew who it was since I heard Bloom giggling from the kitchen.

"Sky. So great for you to join us." I grin at him. I notice a beautiful bouquet of Roses in full bloom on the table. Sky can be really romantic when he wants to be. I like his positive influence on Bloom. She's never been this giddy over a guy before.

He smiles back. "Hey, Stella. It's good to see you." I start searching for my _Froot Loops_ in the cabinet when I hear him clearing his throat. I turn around slowly, already knowing what he was going to say.

"Um…" he glanced at Bloom and she smiled encouragingly. "Have you… thought of seeing Brandon anytime soon?"

I breathed out slowly. "No. He obviously hasn't made any effort to contact me so why would I try contacting him?" I turn back around before they saw my eyes start to tear up. What about this man makes me so emotional?

"Look, Stella, he's been extra cranky and rude the last few days at work. All he's done for the past three days is mope. If anyone so much as tries to sit in your chair in his office, he flips out." My chair? Oh, yeah. I always tend to sit in the chair on the side of Brandon's desk. I kind of named it my chair but I didn't think he thought of it as mine too.

"He misses you, Stella. I know he said some hurtful stuff to you, but I can promise you he didn't mean it. He was just really angry at himself and you've got to understand th-" I spun around quickly to face him and held my hand up.

"I don't want to hear you advocate for him. If he was really sorry about what he did then he would be here apologizing, not you." I'm proud I actually got that out without my voice shaking.

"You're right," a voice said, coming into the kitchen. I knew it was him before I even looked up. It was like I could _feel_ him coming in the room. Brandon swallowed hard and looked me dead in the eyes. "That's why I'm here."

* * *

**A/N: Hello my lovely readers. Thank you sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooo much for reading and reviewing. You're all awesome!**

**So… you mad yet? Do you think Brandon totally over reacted? I do, but it's not only Stella who has a little bit of a trust issue….**

**Now I'm going to give a choice on which revelation you guys want to come out first. Do you want to know what went down between Brandon and Mitzi or what went down between Flora and Helia. You got to tell me because I can't decide!**

**This chapter wasn't my best but it was longish, right? Our favorite couple needs to get past some barriers and this was the best way to get through the first. Anyways, I'd love to know what you think.**

**So…Review!**


	9. Apologies and Untold Stories

**Chapter 9: Apologies and Untold Stories**

After Bloom and Sky left the kitchen, Brandon slowly walked in. I made sure not to look at him as he made his way to the counter across from me. It was silent for the next couple of minutes so I looked up to see what was taking him so long to speak. He was staring at me in a way that made me think he wants me to say something first. I stubbornly cross my arms and narrow my eyes at him.

Finally, Brandon breaks the silence. "So… how have you been?"

"Fine," I reply shortly. "How's your face?" Okay, that was a little mean but he deserved the slap I gave him Thursday.

He breathes out. "I deserve that." He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. "I really don't even know where to start, Stella."

"How about you tell me about your new Bimbo of an assistant," I snap. Brandon's eyes open.

"She's not my assistant and you would've known that if you would've talked to me rationally for five seconds after the interview. Not stomp off like a kid."

I sucked in a breath. "Don't you dare try turning this on me Brandon."

Brandon sighs and says, "Look, I didn't come here to fight again." He took a hesitant step towards me. "I miss you, Stells."

It takes some major willpower not to fall into his arms right then and there. _I have to be strong_. "It surely didn't seem that way when you were fussing me out."

"If I'm not mistaken, you were yelling just as much as I was," Brandon said, narrowing his eyes in annoyance.

"Well I didn't accuse you of being a lying cheater, now did I?" I was getting heated but now hurt tears were starting to form in my eyes. I turn my head away so he can't see the hurt that his words caused me. I heard him walk towards me until there was hardly any space left between us. My senses were assaulted by the scent that calmed me and drove me crazy at the same time.

"You know I didn't mean that, Stells." His breath is cool against my cheek. "Please look at me."

Once I've managed to get my tears under control, I slowly twist my face back to look at his. He clasps my cheek in his hand and swipes my cheek affectionately. I let him.

"I say the dumbest stuff when I'm angry. It's like my mouth is on autopilot or something. It's just… when I saw you with Baltor…wearing his coat…" Brandon looked away from me for a moment. "I didn't like it. At all."

I can't help smiling slightly at his revelation. "How do you think I felt when you wanted to hire Diaspro?"

Brandon released my cheek and used the same hand to rub the back of his neck. He tended to do that when he was uncomfortable or embarrassed. I don't know which of those he was right now.

"I get it now. I got it when Sky told me how much of an ass I was being about it, after you left the office. That's why I went outside to talk to you but you already seemed to be in a deep discussion with none other than my arch nemesis. "

I rolled my eyes. "It was hardly what I would call a 'deep conversation' Brandon. And to be fair I didn't even know who he was until, like, halfway into our conversation."

"Knew him well enough to wear his jacket," he mumbled jealously. I laughed a little and placed my hands on either side of his face.

"I'm more into the devilishly handsome type of guys," I said, grinning. "I can't believe you were jealous of him."

Brandon raised an eyebrow. "I could say the same to you about Diaspro." _Ugh, just the sound of her name puts me in a bad mood, _I thought as I dropped my hands from his face. He saw my sour face and chuckled. "See? Jealousy isn't either of our nice sides. But seriously," He put his hands down on both sides of the counter, caging me in with his arms, "How could you think that I would ever just dump you for Diaspro?"

"It wasn't that exactly. She's just so… beautiful and a lot of other things I'm sure men love," I grumble, studying his arm with sudden interest.

Brandon grasps my chin gently and turns my face towards his. "_You're_ beautiful. I lo… care a lot about _you_, not her. Okay?" I nod but widened my eyes at his almost slipup. Was he about to say he loves me?

"Just so we're clear on everything, I'm sorry. Do you forgive me?" It was hard not to when he looked at me like that. Taking my silence for hesitation, he decided to try a different tactic. He leaned in a softly kissed my cheek. "Do," he kissed my temple, "you," he kissed my forehead, "forgive," he leaned in further to kiss the tip of her ear before whispering, "me?"

I was practically a puddle of goo at that point. It was kind of hard to concentrate as well. I really wanted to forgive him, but I had a couple of questions first.

"Okay umm… I don't… can you back up just a little bit please?" I say breathlessly. Brandon chuckles but gives me some space. _Now breathe Stella._

"Who are you hiring as your assistant?"

"Another lady that we interviewed first. I forgot her real name but she says she goes by Musa." He answered smoothly leaning back towards me. I stopped him by putting my hand against his chest.

"Why did it take you so long to come here? I mean, you haven't called or anything in three days."

"A phone works both ways, Stells. You never contacted me either, remember?" Well, he had a good point there.

"Last question. What's going on with you and Mitzi?"

Brandon groaned. "Do we really have to talk about her right now?"

"I thought we weren't the secretive type of couple." I pointed out.

He was silent for a few moments. "When I was fifteen, Mitzi had just barely graduated from high school. She and my parents had this huge fight because she didn't want to go to college. She left and apparently got in some trouble with drugs and a bunch of debts she owed to drug dealers. Then these two guys came to our house one night when my parents weren't home and…" Brandon shook his head angrily. "I just prefer not to talk about her right now. I promise I'll tell you the whole gory story later. Just… not right now. Right now I want to go out and do something fun with you. Not talk about Mitzi. Alright?"

Wait, what? Mitzi was a druggie? She definitely cleans up nicely because you can't tell that by how she looks now. Still, I don't understand why she applied for that job if she never even went to college. College experience was one of the requirements. I also remember Sky saying she had an impressive résumé. How is that possible if she was on drugs?

Whatever it is, Brandon really doesn't want to discuss it now so I say, "Fine. I forgive you. And I also apologize for being a bitch about Diaspro and Baltor. You were worse, but," I smile ruefully, "I'm sorry."

Brandon grins widely and tucks some of my wayward hair behind my ear. "I forgave you a while ago. And here…" He ran over to the table and pulled out a rose from Bloom's bouquet. "It would've been more romantic if I bought a Gardenia flower instead, but I wasn't thinking." He handed me the rose with a smirk and I laughed.

"You're right and the fact that you just stole it right in front of me kind of takes away the romance as well," I say but can't seem to wipe my smile away as he lays his hands on my hips.

"Well, it's the thought that counts, right?" He asks innocently.

I stand on my tip toes so that we were almost the same height. "I guess I can let it count this one time," I whisper as his lips descend on mine. My hands move on their own accord as they tangle in the hair at the back of his head. Brandon tightens his grip on my waist and pulls us impossibly closer to one another. He breaks the kiss suddenly but the tingly feeling on my lips still remains.

I look at him, confused before he explains. "I forgot to tell you. Wednesday night is Flora and Riven's engagement party. She really wants you to come so should I pick you up after work?"

I stared at him blankly. "You broke our make-up kiss so you can tell me about a party invitation?"

"I knew I would forget if I didn't tell you now." He shrugged. "I wanted to get it out the way."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, picking me up from work sounds good."

"Great, now would you like to get back to our previous activity or have I totally ruined the mood?"

"Shut up, Brandon," I say and pull his head back down to mine.

* * *

**_3 days later…_**

"This place looks great, Flora!" I exclaim as I turn in a circle to see the ceiling decorations.

"Thanks! It took some preparation, but we got it all done in time." Flora replies with a sweet smile. Riven sneaks up behind her and wraps an arm around her shoulders.

"We should go make the toast soon, Babe. Everyone's getting pretty hungry now."

"By everyone you mean you," Flora laughs.

"You know me so well." Riven practically beams at her. Wow, that's the look someone gives when they are hopelessly in love. It's a really beautiful glance that he gives her; absolutely radiant. The only problem is that I can tell it is more one-sided than anything else.

Flora looks at me with widened eyes. She must have seen me studying them a little more than normal. She clears her throat and smiles a little uneasily. "Stella, you should go find your seat. I'll see you soon."

I nod and they both walk off towards the front of the room. Sky and Bloom are out on the dance floor along with Roxy. Flora let me invite her along and I was extremely happy to do so. I see Brandon break through the crowd and walk towards me.

"Let's find a seat," he says in my ear and puts his hand on the small of my back. He leads me to one of the round tables in the front of the room. Riven tapped his glass cup to gather everyone's attention and asked us to be seated. Sky and Bloom eventually make their way over to the table as well. Brandon rests his arm around the back of my chair and says, "This will probably be one of the worst speeches in history. Riven is terrible at talking to crowds in the right way." I just laugh.

Once everyone was seated, Riven stood up and cleared his throat loudly. "Um… thanks for coming everybody."

I lean into Brandon. "I think you might be right," I whisper and he just nods with a smirk.

"I… just wanted to say that this night means a lot to Flora and me. And considering how much I spent on decorations for this place, it shows further proof on how much I really love this woman." That got laughs from all around the place. Flora lightly hit him on the arm, but couldn't help grinning.

"I just wanted to thank you guys again and you are officially allowed to eat. Dig in!" I laughed. Riven is so greedy. Just before everyone got up to go to the buffet line, one of the heavy back doors closed with a bang. Everyone turned to see who the newcomer was.

It's Helia.

Sky whistles lowly. "Looks like shit is about to hit the fan. Again." I think he may be right about that.

* * *

**A/N: Hola, readers! Thanks sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooo much for your continued support for this story. You guys rock!**

**How was Brandon's apology? Did you like it? Hate it? Let me know.**

**Okay, so you got a little information about Mitzi's issue. Can anybody guess what happened next in that story? I bet you can't ;)**

**Well, I apologize for the continuous cliffhangers. I just can't help myself. I can be a drama queen sometimes. Trust me; you will get a break soon.**

**Last chapter, I asked which secret you guys wanted me to reveal and guess what? It was a tie. So you'll have to wait until next chapter to discover some juicy secrets. But of course, you have to review to let me know if you even still want more…**

**So… Review!**


	10. Unresolved Revelations

**Chapter 10: Unresolved Revelations**

The whole room was silent as Helia stayed put in his position in front of the door, looking directly at Flora. I look back at the front table to see Flora's shocked face and Riven's angered one. Brandon decides to do some damage control by standing up and saying, "Okay, who's getting in line first?"

It took a few moments, but the guests started to line up at the buffet and talk quietly amongst themselves. I'm positive they were gossiping about Helia's unexpected appearance. Riven tries to put on a calm face (and fails miserably) as he walks over to Helia with Flora on his heels. I was expecting her to look angry or frustrated but she only looked… nervous?

"Okay, I'm going to get some food before the fight starts," Bloom says. "It's best to eat while watching a good showdown."

"No one's fighting," Brandon snapped. He was studying the trio that just met at the back of the room. "Why is Helia even here?" I asked Brandon who just shrugged in response.

"Whatever it is, Riven is about to blow his cap off about it." Brandon responds. "Stay here, Stell. I'm going to break this up before it escalates." Good thing he did because Flora looked like she was already pleading with Riven to calm down. Riven wasn't looking at her though; his glare was vicious as he stared down Helia. Helia didn't look fazed, however. He was focused on Flora.

I was sure Riven was about to pounce right before Brandon got there. I stood up and made my way over even with Bloom protesting me not to. Flora looked right about hysterical right now.

"Get the hell out of here!" Riven hissed at Helia. Brandon was slightly holding Riven back.

Helia shook his head. "Not until I speak with Flora. Flora," Helia looked down at her, pleadingly, "please just give me a minute."

"Helia, just leave," Brandon warned, struggling slightly with Riven. "You're upsetting Flora."

Speaking of Flora, she looked absolutely torn at the moment. She seemed to come to a decision as she turn to Riven and put her hands on both sides of his face. "I'll be right back, Riven."

Riven looked like she just slapped her. "What? You're going with _him_?"

"Stop overreacting. I'll fix this, okay?" She leaned up and quickly pecked him on the lips then she turned around to Helia. He nodded, relieved, and led her to the hallway.

Riven shook Brandon's hands off of him. "This is bullshit," he said before stomping out of the room, probably to get some fresh air. Brandon just shook his head in annoyance. "That guy is such a drama queen."

"I'm sure I know where he got it from," I say looking at him pointedly.

Brandon chose to ignore my comment. "Hey, what are you doing over here? I thought I asked you to stay over there."

"You didn't _ask_ me, you _told_ me." I said with my hands on my hips. "I'm really bad at doing what people order me to do."

He rolled his eyes. "Calm down, gorgeous. I'm going to make sure Riven hasn't busted any windows out of anyone's car."

I tried, unsuccessfully to raise one eyebrow. "Why do you call me that?"

Brandon tried, successfully, and raised one eyebrow. "Because you're gorgeous. Is there a problem with that?"

"No!" I blushed slightly. "It's just…I'm not used to being called that."

"Well then," Brandon quickly wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me close to his chest, "I guess I just found your new nickname, gorgeous." I smiled and pecked his lips with mine once, twice, three times before I pulled away.

"You go check on Riven." I glance back at the doors that led to the hallway Helia and Flora were in. "Maybe I'll check in on Flora." I started to turn when Brandon grabbed my wrist and spun me back around.

"Oh, no you don't."

I scrunch up my forehead. "Why? Shouldn't we check on her?"

"I don't know if you have noticed or not, Stella, but Flora's an adult. She can handle this. We just need to stay out of her business." I was still hesitant so he tried a different tactic. "Why don't you go and have some more fun with your friends?"

I looked over at the buffet line where Roxy was talking it up with a couple of guys. Bloom and Sky looked a little tipsy as they were just dancing around the table. They all seemed to be having an alright time without me. I faced Brandon again and he sighed, seeing the same thing I was.

"Just stay out of it, Stella," Brandon warned. I knew Brandon was a private person so of course he would respect others privacy. I guess I'll respect it too.

I nodded. "Okay." Brandon smiled and kissed my forehead.

"I'll be right back," he said and headed out of the door towards the cold November wind. I started to walk back towards Bloom and Sky when I heard a small bang on the floor. It came from the hallway. Okay, I know that Brandon wanted me to mind my own business but I can't just ignore the bump I heard. Something bad could be happening.

I snuck over to the door and pressed my ear to it. I could hear some things they were saying, but it was kind of muffled. They sounded so far away. I opened the door slightly. There. Much better.

"…believe you're doing this, Helia!" Flora's voice is exasperated as she talks to Helia. Her back is to me so I can only see Helia's face, but I can still read her body language. I look to the right and see that a fake vase was rolling back and forth slowly next to Helia. I guess that was the thump I heard earlier.

"I'm not doing anything that shouldn't be done, Flora. You know how much I love you. There has been no one else and never will be," Helia is desperately trying to get her to understand. Jeez, he must have really screwed up their relationship.

Flora huffed. "Oh, really? I don't remember that pink haired girl not meaning anything to you." Pink haired girl… pink haired girl… Helia's girlfriend! I remember now.

"You know why I had to pretend with her. She means nothing to me compared to how I feel about you."

"Whatever, Helia. You didn't _have_ to be with her."

"I know that. I have nothing with her, trust me."

Flora shook her head and glanced away from him. "It doesn't matter anymore. I'm with Riven."

Helia narrowed his eyes. "Flora, you can't be serious with that guy. He cares about you; I can see that, but I know that he isn't the right guy for you."

Flora placed her hands on her hips. "And how do you figure that?"

Helia stepped forward causing her to step back. He hesitantly crept forward some more until Flora backed herself against the opposite wall. He stood in front of her and said, "Because I am."

Flora turned her head to the side and for the first time I can see her face full on. Her eyes are squeezed shut and I think I see a tear falling down her cheek. "Helia…don't. I love Riven. Why are you making this so hard for me?" She whispered the last part of her sentence.

Helia reached out and stopped the tear from falling off her face with his fingertips. "I'm not trying to hurt you, Flora. I just can't let you make the mistake of marrying him. Can you honestly look me in the face and tell me you aren't still in love with me?"

Flora pushed his hand away from her face. "Get out of here Helia," she demanded in a shaky voice, not looking at him as he spoke.

"No. Not until you can look me in the eye and tell me you don't love me anymore."

It was silent for so long that even I was getting anxious for the answer. I knew this was a mega private moment for these two, but I couldn't bring myself to look away. Finally, Flora looked up at Helia.

"I… I love Riven. Please just let me be…happy," She said breathlessly. Helia shut his eyes before slowly shaking his head.

"You and I both know you're not _in_ love with him and as long as that's true… I'm not letting you get away from me for good Flora. I can't." He softly kissed her forehead and walked out the door opposite to the one he walked in through.

Once the door closes with a small thud, Flora slides to the floor and starts to sob quietly. I opened that door fully and quickly made my way over to her. She looked startled at first to see me, but didn't seem to care when I pulled her into my arms. She cried gently on my shoulder.

"I hate this so much, Stella," she whispered. "Why can't I just have some sort of emotional stability for once? Is that too much to ask?"

I stroked her hair. "No one is always emotionally stable, no matter what." I pull back and sit on the ground beside her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I probably should. I haven't told anyone the reason Helia and I really broke up and it's been like a huge weight on my chest." She sighed. "A little over two years ago, before he started working at Alfea Corp, Helia and I started dating. He totally swept me off my feet you know?" Yeah, I knew. Kind of like how Brandon did the same to me. "He was so sweet and loving and kind and gentle and… _good_. I never met a man like him."

She sniffled. "It didn't take long for me to fall for him. You should have seen me, Stella. I was crazy about him. He was crazy about me too, though. Heck, even Brandon liked him and he doesn't like _any_ of my boyfriends. He's just overprotective like that. Still is. Anyway, everything was great except for one little thing. He is the son of one of my family's rivals."

My eyes widened slightly. "Did Brandon know?"

Flora shook her head. "We never told him. There was no point to me. Helia despised his parents because he didn't believe in what they stood for. They were constantly pressuring him into joining the family business, but he just resented them for it. Helia loves his parents, though and didn't want to disappoint them any further then he already has. They all kept their distance from one another, but not when his parents found out he was dating me." I swallowed the lump in my throat, already having a feeling about how they ended the relationship.

"At first," Flora continued, "Helia didn't care what they thought. Well, that's what he told me. It was about two or so weeks later when he started acting fishy. He didn't have as much time to spend with me anymore and sometimes we would even go days without talking to each other, let alone seeing one another. It was horrible on me because he usually made it a must to call or text me every day just to tell me he loved me." Her breath caught as she said that.

"I decided to go to his house one day when he didn't return my calls. I pulled up right when he was walking out. With that woman." I'm guessing she's talking about Krystal, the pink haired girl. "He kissed her cheek and smiled at her… like he used to smile at me. They got in the car and I decided to do some detective work and follow him. They went to a restaurant and met up with Helia's parents. I had never seen Helia happy to see his parents. They weren't chummy like that!

"I had enough of it by then. Just when they got seated, I went up to Helia and faced him head-on. He looked shocked and so guilty. I just yelled some stuff I don't remember at him and ran back out of the restaurant crying." Some more tears fell as she explained. I fished around in my purse for some tissues and handed them to her. She smiled her thanks and continued. "He caught up to me and tried to explain. Apparently his parents forced him to go out with the girl. They didn't want me dating the enemy and he wanted to at least placate them with the idea a while longer. But I wasn't going to be a secret. He either stood up to his parents or we were through. You can obviously see what he decided."

We sat there in silence. Poor Flora. She out of all people didn't deserve that. She wiped her face some more. "I mean, I get that he wanted to please his parents because I do too, but I love him enough to disobey my parents. That probably sounded so childish, but oh well." I smiled and bumped my shoulder against hers.

"I'd totally disobey my parents too," I told her which was true. I wouldn't let them even try to tell me I couldn't be with Brandon.

"Then there was Riven. He always kind of had a crush on me so it was fitting that he was there for me through the whole breakup ordeal. After a while, he made his true feelings more known and I thought 'why not', you know? Everything was starting to look up until we got a new employee. I didn't expect Helia to get a job at Alfea, especially since Brandon knows we had that bad breakup. I was so mad at Brandon too."

"Well, did Brandon say why he did it?" I was highly confused as to why he would hire him.

"He said it was a good business venture. Apparently, my family and Helia's family were both making some kind of peace treaty or whatever. He said he would get rid of him if I told him what he did that was so terrible, but I just wasn't ready for that. This just turned out to be such a big mess."

I leaned my head against hers. "What do you think you're going to do?"

"I don't even know. I love Riven, I really do but… I don't think…" She couldn't seem to get the words out. I rubbed her arm.

"I get it, it get it." Flora shook her head.

"No, I don't think you do." She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. I tilted my head to the side to look at her.

"I know I might be stepping out of bounds here but… are you still… in love with Helia?"

Flora's eyes watered once again. "Yes," she got out before burying her face in her hands. "What am I going to do?" She asked into her hands.

I wished I could give her an answer.

* * *

Brandon stopped the car in front of my apartment complex. He turned to me with a smile. "Well that was an interesting night." I nodded silently.

"Are you okay? Something else happen?" Brandon asked with a concerned expression. I couldn't tell him about what happened with Flora for two reasons. 1) He asked me not to get involved with all of this in the first place and 2) Flora begged me not to tell anyone else, especially Brandon. She said that if I told him then he would definitely fire Helia and she didn't want Helia to lose his job. Flora was too nice for her own good sometimes.

I smile, hoping it looked convincing. "Everything's fine. I just hope that Flora's okay."

"I think she'll be fine. She knows I would kick Helia's ass if he did something too terrible." He got out of the car.

"That's what she's afraid of," I mumble as he walked over to my side and opened the door. I step out and he holds out his arm for me to take. I giggle at his silly act of chivalry but play along. "Why, thank you kind sir." I place my hand on the crook of his arm and he smiles charmingly at me.

"No problem at all, ma'am. Always nice to help a beautiful woman." I blushed and looked down as he led me up the stairs and to the door of my apartment.

"You know, I'm starting to think that you don't believe me," Brandon observed, leaning on the wall with his shoulder and looking at me.

"What do you mean?" I ask copy his actions against my door.

"When I compliment you, you seem shocked or something. Like you don't believe it."

"Oh," I shrug, "I just don't really see myself like that. Compared to all the beautiful woman in the world, I just see myself as a speck, really. I mean, I don't think I'm ugly, but not all the things you've said." I say honestly. I've never told anyone that before. I didn't even know that was exactly how I felt before the words came spilling out of my mouth.

Brandon looked at me intensely. "You should _never_ feel like that, Stella. You are honestly the most beautiful woman I have ever known."

My face felt all hot again and I turned it away from him. "Brandon…"

He held up his hands in a surrendering motion. "Okay, Okay. I can tell you're uncomfortable with it." He came closer to me until we were only a heartbeat apart. "But you have to know now that I have to make you believe it now."

"What?" I ask, slightly dizzy from him being so close. His scent is wonderfully shocking to my senses. It drives me crazy.

"You'll see." He grinned and I was once again dazzled by his smile. I couldn't help myself as I reached up and brought his lips down to mine. He smiled against my lips, but responded back with equal exuberance. When we finally broke apart, Brandon leaned his forehead against mine.

"I should go now."

I nodded. "You should." We say this but don't let go of one another. Brandon leaned in for another kiss when Bloom came banging up the stairs.

"Hey, cut it out you two. I need to get inside and you're blocking the door." She pushed in between us and opened the apartment door, rushing to the bathroom. I guess her late night drinking got to her.

"I really hope she didn't drive here," I say as an afterthought. Brandon shook his head.

"Sky probably got her a cab or something. I guess this is my signal to go." Bloom totally broke our romantic mood. I was going to smack her later.

"Okay," I sighed. He chuckled and kissed my lips longingly.

"I'll see you later, gorgeous," he whispered before turning and walking down the stairs. He gave me a smile before he was out of sight completely. I grinned to myself and went inside of the apartment. I knocked on the bathroom door and said, "Bloom, you better not throw up in the sink. That's just nasty."

"Too late," she said miserably. I sighed angrily, but went inside to help my friend out.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks so much for all the support! I had to update because you guys are just that awesome. We're almost at 100 reviews already! Spectacular! **

**Okay, so you discovered Flora and Helia's past relationship. Was it what you were thinking? Poor Flora. What should she do?**

**Next chapter I'm laying off the drama. It's going to be a nice Stella and Brandon chapter that will give you a break from the drama. But don't get too used to it. I've got so many more ideas for this story...**

**Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. You have to tell me if you even liked this chapter to begin with...**

**So...Review!**


	11. Snookums

**Chapter 11: Snookums **

I pull on my white sweater to add to my orange shirt and black pants. Brandon loved me in orange for unknown reasons. Actually, he said he loved me in anything but I know he likes orange on me the best.

There's a knock at my bedroom door and Bloom opens it. "You ready to go sunshine? Brandon's in the kitchen." Bloom tells me.

I sigh. "You know, it's not polite to just walk into someone's room uninvited," I scold as I search for my other black shoe.

"I knocked, didn't I?" I snorted.

"Just help me find my shoe please." She rolled her eyes but started to help. After a minute she found it.

"You know," she hands me my shoe which I quickly slip on, "I don't quite see what's so great about Brandon. I mean, don't get me wrong. He's hot and everything but he seems so… stiff. Like every social exchange is like a bussiness meeting or something."

I laugh as I grab my purse. "He's just not very close to you. Trust me, he's really special." I practically gush and then stop. "And he's waiting for me right now, so if you'll excuse me."

I try to push past her but she grabs my arm. "It's good to see you happy again, Stella."

I smile and give her a small one armed hug, before going into the kitchen. Brandon was sitting at the table, studying a fake, decorative apple from the table. When he sees me approch, he stands up with a drop-dead sexy grin that I love. I think he knows I can't resist that smile.

"Hey," he said and kissed me on my cheek. I smile back and grab his hand.

"Hi," I replied. Bloom walked into the room just then.

"I want her back by 12, Mr. Woods," Bloom says in a parental voice. I scowl at her but Brandon chuckles.

"I'll see to it that she's back on time. Are you ready, Stella?" I nod enthusiastically. I can't wait to see where we're going. Brandon told me it was a surprise which really sucked. I hated not knowing things. That must be why I'm so nosey sometimes.

As we were walking out the door I called out to Bloom over my shoulder, "Don't wait up for me!"

She shouted back, "Don't do anything I would do!" She winked and I rolled my eyes. Bloom could be a hand-full sometimes.

As we started the walk down to Brandon's car, I asked, "So... where are we going again?"

"Just wait and see." That answer wasn't very satisfying so when we got in the car, I decided to guess.

"Movies?"

Brandon shrugged his shoulders. "Sort of."

Sort of? What does that mean? "Uh, okay... restaurant?"

"Kind of." I narrowed my eyes at him but he couldn't see since he was concentrating on the road.

"The zoo?" He knew I loved animals, especially dogs, and I had been hinting that I would love to go to one again. Brandon glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and smirked.

"Good guess, but not exactly. Now stop guessing before you actually get it right."

I threw my hands up and let them fall, loudly, into my lap. "How are you taking me to a sort-of movie that is kind of a restaurant and is also a zoo in some way?"

He kept on hand on the steering wheel and reached his other out to hold my hand. "It's a... interesting place that I'm hoping you'll love. Just trust me."

I sighed and decided to change the subject. "Fine. How's work?"

Brandon squeezed my hand in appreciation for changing the subject. I'm sure that if I would've kept begging to know where we were going that he would eventually break and tell me. He really wanted to keep this a surprise, though, so I'll stop pressuring him.

"Things are looking really good. Our stocks are up and the new project I was telling you about is up and running smoothly. Hiring Musa really helped though."

I smiled. "Just like I knew it would." I had seen Musa a couple of times since she was hired and she seemed really great. She was feisty, too. She didn't play around and apparently kept all the members at Alfea Corp. in line. I liked her a lot.

"Yeah. I could say everything was excellent but Flora has been acting extra weird lately. Things between her and Riven seem to be really strained nowadays. I caught them arguing really heatedly right before I left the office today. I almost swung on him for the way he was looking at her."

I sucked in a breath. I know exactly what that's about. I think Flora may have made a decision already. "Did she tell you anything?"

Brandon shook her head. "Nope, but if she doesn't stop acting all strange soon, I'll have to find out. I sent Helia on a business trip so Flora can get some breathing room, but he'll be back in two days."

I was thinking of how hard this must have been on Flora, but I bet this is just as bad on Riven too. He may be losing his fiancée to the one man he never wanted to have her. And then there's Helia. He made a huge mistake that he is desperately trying to make up for. They both seem to really love Flora.

Brandon squeezed my hand to grab my attention. "You okay?"

I nodded and breathed out slowly. "Yeah, just feeling bad for your sister." Brandon nodded and agreed. Before long, Brandon parked the car. "We're here," He announced and jumped out of the car.

By first appearance, the place just looked like a humongous warehouse with a safari themed front yard. A title on the front of the building says, "_THE BITES OF LIFE". _There was a red carpet lined out in front of the entrance, just like the one out of the movies. People and families were going into and out of the warehouse happily. Those who were coming out all had gifts or food with them like the gifts and foods from a convenience store. Those who were going in had to apparently sign in with a man who was at the front doors.

I still had no idea what this place was and looked over at Brandon for some type of clue. He just grinned. "Come on." He wrapped an arm around my waist and we made our way over to the man at the front doors.

"Name," the man barked as we approached. He was a short and irritated looking man with a bald head. His attitude kind of reminded me of chef Ricky from the diner.

"Woods," Brandon snapped right back. He obviously didn't appreciate the short man's attitude. The short guy glanced up at Brandon with narrowed eyes, but checked something off on his list. He then proceeded to grab two passes that were labeled 'VIP' and handed one to Brandon. The man looked me over slowly, twice before smiling. Ugh, creep.

"Here you go pretty lady. Let me help you put it on." He stepped in front of me and made an attempt to fasten the clip on my shirt, right on my breast. Before I could swat his hand away or even before he could lift the clip, Brandon's hand snapped out and clamped around the man's wrist. The short guy yelped in surprise and what I'm sure was pain.

Brandon leaned in closer. "Give her the damn pass then step away from her. Now," he ordered in a deadly calm voice. His tone didn't match his grip on the man's wrist apparently because the man was desperately trying to twist his hand away.

"Okay! Let...go of my hand so I can!" Brandon relaxed his grip and the man tossed the pass to me before rushing back to his stool. "En...enjoy your visit," he says shakily, rubbing his wrist.

With his hand on my lower back, Brandon pushed me forward gently. Once I got through the doors we were greeted by a long hallway. Many people were sitting around and talking. At the very end of the hall it seemed that people were circulating in and out of two metal doors. Who knows what's behind there.

Brandon still seemed a little tense from the encounter. "You know, I really appreciate you defending my honor back there. That was hot."

Brandon snorted. "Only you would think that was hot," he replied as he led me down the hallway and toward the metal doors.

"That is so not true. All girls want a strong man to stand up for her every now and again."

"Well I guess you got lucky with me then, gorgeous." He smiled cheekily as we reached the metal doors. I side-stepped around a little girl. She was jumping with joy towards her mother.

I looked at Brandon warily. "Brandon, please tell me you didn't bring me to some kids playground."

He rolled his eyes and opened the door. "See for yourself." I stepped into the room quickly and my jaw dropped open at the sight I was seeing. There were sections of different exhibits all over the place. The closest section to me was a Koala information center. It had a little video screen that was showing different types of Koalas and even had a real live koala behind a glass screen. The other sections I could see had the same set up.

I spun around so quickly that Brandon had to catch me from falling over. "You brought me to an Animal Museum!?"

"Well, you talked about loving animals so much and I couldn't find a zoo near here so this seemed like the next best. I'm hoping your excited spin was because you like the surprise because if you don-" I cut him off by throwing my hands around his neck and pulling him down to kiss me. He grunted in surprise but quickly responded. When I pulled back, I smiled so wide at him my cheeks hurt.

"Thank you!" I wrapped my arms back around his neck and hugged him tightly, my face pressed tightly in his neck. He laughed at my exuberance and replied, "If I knew you would be this happy over a museum, then I would've brought you out here a lot earlier."

"It's just... no one has ever done something like this for me," I mumbled into his neck. He held me for a few seconds before kissing the top of my head and saying, "You don't have to thank me for making you happy, gorgeous. Now let's enjoy some animal time." I pulled back and grinned at him before grabbing his hand again.

We left the Koala center and went on to the amphibian animal section. I didn't particularly like amphibians but I liked the interesting facts about them. At every center there was a spokesperson talking about the animals and answering any questions someone has about the animals. Brandon told me this place was a museum and a zoo in one. It was more of a museum than zoo to me, but Brandon thought the opposite. We argued lightly about this while walking around.

"Brandon, for the last time: zoos are outside. Museums are inside! Therefore this is more museum than zoo."

"Yeah, I don't believe museums have animals just crawling around everywhere."

I rolled my eyes. "Sometimes they do. Oh, look!" I drag Brandon over to the Canine section of the so-called museum. The first exhibit we encountered here was the Red fox. There wasn't a real animal for display but they molded what the fox actually looks like. I look down at the interesting facts podium.

"Hmm. Did you know that even though Red Foxes are in the canine family, they also have a lot of traits that cats do too?" I asked Brandon.

Brandon shrugged. "Doesn't surprise me. I mean, look at its face. It kind of looks like a cat."

I glanced at the molded cat and nodded my head. That was true. I read some more facts. "Oh, they can even hear the sound of ticking from 40 yards away."

"Well its ears _are_ pretty big." I elbow him in the stomach. Then a thought from earlier occurred to me.

"Hey, you said this place was kind of like a restaurant and a movie."

Brandon nodded. "It is. The restaurant is just a couple of exhibits away and there's a movie theater at the end of the tour. We can watch the movie optionally. I think they're playing _Marley and Me _today."

Oh, I loved _Marley and Me_. Right now, though, I had other thoughts on my mind. "Uh, do you mind if we go eat now? I haven-" The sound of his stomach growling stops me mid-sentence. We look at each other for a second before laughing.

"Okay, I guess you're hungry too," I say. He wraps an arm around my shoulders and steers me out of the Canine exhibit.

"You read my mind, gorgeous."

"You know, since you get to give me a nickname I think I deserve to give you one as well."

Brandon raised an eyebrow at me. "Oh, really? Okay, what did you have in mind?"

I tapped my chin with one finger. "Hmm. I'm not sure yet. I'll let you know when I think of something."

"Please do."

We arrive at the restaurant but there was no one else there. When I say no one I literately mean _no one_. It was pretty large and fancy too. Not what you would expect in a museum/zoo. Not at all.

"Um, Brandon? Where... why is no one here?" I asked as Brandon brought me over to a small table for two.

"Oh, that. I kind of rented the place out for the night," he said casually. He pulled out my chair for me and looked up when I didn't sit down. I would've sat down but I was too busy gaping at him.

"You...you rented out a restaurant?"

Brandon nodded slowly. "Yeah. Is there something wrong with that?"

"No! It's just... I can't believe you actually rented a restaurant."

"Well," Brandon replied as I sat down and he went to sit in his own seat, "If you have the means to do things, why not do them? I would say that you deserve about anything I can offer and more." He smiled charmingly.

I cleared my throat. "Okay if you don't mind me asking... how rich _are_ you?" I blurted out. Ugh, I'm so inappropriate, but I didn't think he had more than enough money to rent a restaurant.

Brandon grinned again. "If you must know, Alfea Corporations isn't just exclusive to this town. I have the same business running in New York, California, Washington State, Georgia, Texas, Arkansas, and Florida." He thought for a second. "Oh, and Maryland. North Carolina is just where I decided to live."

"Whoa." I had no idea Brandon owned all those companies across the United States. Especially since he is so young. "Why did you never tell me?"

"You never asked." He smirked. Okay, so I knew Brandon was rich, but the fact the he was a multi-billionaire really blew my mind.

Brandon tilted his head to the side. "Does this bother you?"

"Of course not! I'm just trying to process that my boyfriend is probably richer than Oprah."

He laughs. "Maybe not _that_ rich, but pretty close."

I shake my head to clear it. "That's a lot of responsibility. No wonder you're always so busy."

Brandon reached across the small table and took my hands in his. "I always have time for you, gorgeous." He grins infectiously and I can't help but smile back.

"Hey! I think I've got a good nickname."

"Alright, let's hear it."

"Snookums." Brandon was quiet for a second before speaking. "Wait, you're serious?"

I smiled. "Yeah! I like it, don't you?"

Brandon swallowed and squished up his nose like he smelled something bad. "Uh, well, that wasn't what I would think you would have in mind."

"Do you want me to change it?"

He looked relieved. "That would be nice."

"Too bad!" I stuck my tongue out at him and giggled when he narrowed his eyes at me.

"You're evil," he announced. I was about to retort when a woman popped out of nowhere. She was wearing a uniform which led me to believe that she was our waitress for the night. I was beginning to wonder how we were going to get our food.

"Hello, Brandon. Nice to see you again," she smiles to Brandon.

Brandon responds, "Good to see you too, Macy. This is my girlfriend, Stella. Stella, this is my... old friend Macy."

We shook hands. "It's nice to meet you, Stella. Brandon talks about you all the time." Really, now? She's heard about me but I haven't heard anything about her. I look at Brandon when I respond to her.

"He's told you good things, I hope." Brandon shoots me an uneasy grin.

"Of course. His sister and I were good friends before she... left." She glanced at Brandon and put a hand on his shoulder. "How is she now?"

Brandon shrugged which slyly slid her hand off his shoulder. "I tend to avoid her when I can." He said in a clipped tone and cleared his throat. "Are you ready to take our order?"

Macy looks a little shocked at his sudden closed off behavior. She must not understand how sour of a subject Mitzi is to Brandon. That's shocking considering she acted like she knew him since forever ago.

We made our orders for drinks and she went into the back room. I turned to Brandon as soon as she left. He started before I could. "I seriously had no idea she was working here."

"Well still...I never heard of this Macy before."

"Yeah, well it never really came up."

"But my name came up in your conversations with her?"

"She asked me before if I was dating anyone and I told her abo-" I stopped him right there.

"Wait, why did she want to know that?"

Brandon scratched the back of his neck. "We kind of dated a little while a few years back. She probably thinks we could still have a- wait. What are you doing?" I was already standing up and pushing my chair in.

"Let's find somewhere else to eat." I grab his hand and try to pull him up from his chair. He says, "Come on, Stella. She won't bother us other than getting us food anymore. Promise."

I still wanted to leave but the fact that Brandon paid so much just to get a restaurant alone for us stopped me. I'm not going to let jealousy stop us from having a great ending to our amazing date.

I sat back down and sighed. "Okay, sorry."

She comes back for the drinks and takes our orders. We end up having a perfect ending to this perfect date. She didn't bother us other than ordering, like Brandon said, but I could still see her longing for him. Call me paranoid, but I didn't like it at all. I can't blame her completely. If I had let Brandon slip away I would do about anything to get him back. I hope she wasn't thinking the same thing.

I think that's what scares me the most.

After we finished dinner, we continued through the rest of the exhibits. My phone buzzes in my purse but I ignore it considering that it rude to just start talking on your cellphone during a date. A few minutes later it buzzes again and Brandon takes notice.

"Maybe you should answer that."

I shook my head. "Nah, it's probably just my Dad, asking about Thanksgiving again."

"Oh," Brandon nodded. "So are you going?"

I shrugged. "I do want to see my Dad, but his new _family_ isn't exactly delightful. It's why I left in the first place." _Well, that and the fact that I thought I was in love with a cheating idiot._

"Your Dad seems to really want you to go though. It might be good for you," Brandon said. Maybe…

"You wanna come with me? He only lives like five hours away. It would save me from being lonely on the ride there. Plus, you could meet my Dad!" Sounded like a perfect plan to me.

Brandon pushed a hand through his hair. "Meeting the parents. That's a huge step, gorgeous. I'm honored you want me to do this."

I nudged him with my hip. "So are you going or not, snookums?" He rolled his eyes at his new nickname.

"I'll see what I can work out with my schedule."

We had the option to watch the movie, but Brandon decided against it since I looked like I was about to drop dead with sleep. I tried to say I was alright but he knew me better than that and we left.

He walked me to my door like he always did. I kissed him on the nose. "Thank you for such an amazing night, Snookums."

Brandon groaned. "So I guess that name really stuck, huh?" I nodded.

"Let's make a deal. You can call me that all you want, but not in front of the guys."

I laughed. "Why not? You shouldn't be ashamed of your new nickname, Snookums." I wrapped my arms around his waist and snuggled into his chest.

"I'm not...exactly. The guys just wouldn't let me live it down if they heard you call me that," Brandon admitted. I lifted my head off his chest to look up at him.

"Hmm. I'll have to think about that." I smiled as he leaned down closer to my face. I closed my eyes in anticipation for his kiss, but it never came. Opening my eyes, I see him just staring at me.

"Were you planning on kissing me anytime soon?" I asked impatiently. Brandon grinned.

"I was giving you time to think about that nickname. Come to any conclusion yet?" I glared at him and he chuckled.

"Fine, I won't tell anyone. Now will you kiss me good-night? You know, since that _is_ what good boyfriends do and all."

Brandon tilted his head. "I thought good boyfriends tended to take their girlfriends on surprise dates and rent out entire restaurants just for them, but," he smiled, "I could be wrong."

I rolled my eyes. He was definitely not wrong about that. "Just kiss me."

"Yes, Ma'am."

**A/N: Yay we broke 100 reviews! Thanks so much to everyone supporting, reviewing, and reading this story!**

**So... how was the surprise? It may have sucked for some of you, but I think it was sweet of Brandon to do. I would love if a guy was thoughtful enough to do that for me. Oh, and sorry if there are a lot of grammatical errors, didn't have much time to check it over.**

**I wanted to respond to a review about me updating around the same time the story '**_**Expect the Unexpected'**_**updates. Well, I actually know this author personally so when she updates it makes me feel lazy that I haven't updated, so I get up and do a chapter. If you don't know the story I'm talking about, it's by **_**Smiles4Eva **_**and it's another Brandon and Stella story. Check it out!**

**This is also my longest chapter yet so I hope it didn't disappoint! I also hope you enjoyed this much needed drama free chapter because... well next chapter won't be so drama free. You know I'm a bit of a drama queen. I can't stay away from it too long ;) Let me know how you liked this chapter so I'll be encouraged to update early!**

**So...Review!**


	12. Surprising Arrangements

**Chapter 12: Surprising Arrangements**

"Order up!" Rick yelled grumpily from the kitchen. I rolled my eyes as I went to pick up the plate. He seems to be in a particularly cranky today. I heard from Roxy that his wife just served him with divorce papers last night. Yikes.

"Ricky… we haven't even opened up yet. How do you have an order all ready?" I asked cautiously. Ricky narrowed his eyes.

"Because I do!" he snapped and turned back towards the stove. O…kay then. I turn to Roxy who is sitting in a booth. She just shakes her head and mouths, "Just leave it alone."

Tecna, Roxy's sister, comes out from the storage room with our aprons. Yes, as a part of our uniform we have to wear aprons. Even though we won't be going in the kitchen. It doesn't make much sense but whatever.

"Here you go," Tecna says as she hands me mine. I smile my thanks and sit on a stool by the bar. "Where is that new waiter guy? We open up in almost ten minutes."

Even with Tecna working at the diner now, we still need some more help around here. Especially when the lunch rush comes around so that's why I was extremely relieved when Roxy announced that she was hiring another waiter. He was supposedly some computer tech guy that needed some extra cash during the week to make ends meet.

I honestly just want my shift to be over. Brandon and I haven't been able to spend quality time together in almost a week. That's way too long in my opinion. We are planning to have a nice dinner at my apartment tonight. Hopefully those plans don't go array.

Roxy glanced at her watch. "You're right. Just give him a couple of more mi-"

Suddenly, the bell above the front door jingles and in walks a tall young man. He has orange looking hair styled messily but it worked for him. He wore glasses, a checkered long-sleeved shirt and tan pants. The man had a sort of nerdy-but-cute air about him. He was pretty handsome and apparently I wasn't the only one noticing.

Roxy had her head tilted to the side. "It's about time you show up."

The man ran and hand through his hair. "I'm really sorry. My car was giving me trouble. It won't happen again," He swore. Roxy was about to say something, but Tecna walked up to him first.

"What's your name?" She asked him seeming a little flirty.

"T…Timmy," Timmy said staring at Tecna in a mesmerized way. I glanced at Roxy as she smirked at the two in front of her.

"I'm Tecna." She glanced down at his wrist and gasped slightly. "Is that the new Godspeed Watch 3200 from Dexter Watch Emporium?"

Timmy smiled proudly. "Why, yes it is. With new compass abilities and 4G rating systems. Even has a voice commander."

"It looks awesome." Tecna smiled at him. Timmy smiled back.

"Oh, brother!" Roxy stood up and clamped a hand on both of their shoulders. "Let's cut out the lovey dopey eyes and get to work, shall we?"

* * *

I was cleaning off the last table of my shift, when my phone beeped. I stepped over to a secluded corner so I wouldn't run the risk of talking while on the job, then I looked at the caller ID.

Brandon.

"Hi," I chirp with a smile.

"Hey, gorgeous," he replies, tiredly.

I frown at the sound of his voice. "Are you okay?"

"What? Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. How's it going for you?"

I shrugged and then realized he couldn't see me. "Everything's pretty good. I can't wait for our date tonight. I must warn you though, my meatloaf may be a little...tough around the edges," I laugh.

Brandon coughed out a small, forced laugh. "About that, Stella, I'm going to have to cancel on dinner tonight."

"What? Why?!" This can't be happening _again_.

"I'm sorry, Stell. Seriously. I have this last minute budget meeting with two executives from out of state. Tonight was the only time they could meet in the next week and I wasn't going to push it since we probably won't be able to meet again in the next month," Brandon explained. I stayed silent to reign in my anger and disappointment.

This would be the fourth time Brandon has cancelled on me in the last week. _Every day_ we plan to do something but his work apparently trumps all.

"Stella? Are you still there?"

"Yeah," I breathed out slowly. "I get it, like the last four times. Your work will always be your number one priority, right?"

"Come on, Stell-"

"No!" I lower my voice back down a notch so I won't alert others. "Don't try that 'Come on, Stell' crap with me! I really do understand that you're a busy man but I haven't seen my boyfriend for more than five minutes in the last week. The sad thing is that you work only a few blocks from here!"

Brandon sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm trying the best I can-"

I barked out a harsh laugh. "Really? I sure as hell can't tell."

"I am, alright? Maybe you can't see it now but this will pay off in the end. Don't you think I hate cancelling on you this much? I _do_ have about ten corporations spread out in ten different states that I have to moderate! Excuse me if it gets pretty hectic," he replies heatedly.

"Oh, no you don't. Don't you dare try to get angry with me! I'm not the one bailing on you _again_," I stressed. I see Timmy poke his head around the corner, giving me a concerned look. I shook my head at him and mouthed, "I'm fine." He nodded and went back to the front of the restaurant.

Apparently, Brandon was still talking while I made this exchange with Timmy. "...hard but I'm not purposefully trying to bail on you. I promise I'll make up for this. How about you come over here before I get in the meeti-"

"Stop, just stop," I shook my head as to clear it. "Stop making promises you can't keep." I hung up before he could reply. Huffing angrily, I stuffed my phone back in my pocket.

After I finished wiping down my table, I practically tore my apron off and hung it onto a hook with the other aprons. I heard Tecna calling out for me, but I just walked out of the restaurant without looking back.

* * *

"And then he had the nerve to start getting angry with me! Can you believe that?!" I exclaimed to Bloom as I dug my spoon into my chocolate ice-cream. This is my second tub of ice-cream, by the way.

Bloom shook her head. "Okay. So you're angry because he's not making enough time for you?"

"Not for me, for _us_. It's like he's taking on all these meetings and crap just so he can't spend time with me."

"Oh, come _on_, Stella," Bloom rolls her eyes. "You and I both know that's not the reason. He's a busy guy. You knew that even before you started dating him." She went over to the cabinet and picked out a spoon.

I scowled at her. "Why are you always taking his side?"

She sat down beside me and balked at my question. "I'm not taking his side. I'm always on your side but you're being a bit of a Drama Queen right now."

"So you think I have no reason to be upset with him?" I questioned in disbelief.

"I didn't say that, but you're going a little overboard with it all. No offense, but running a business is pretty time consuming work. How many times do you think Sky has had to postpone our dates before?"

I blinked in surprise. "I never knew that."

"That's because I haven't been moping about it." I just shrugged my shoulders and dug into my ice-cream again. Bloom clapped a hand on my shoulder and gave me a determined look.

"Let's go."

I scrunched my eyebrows together. "Go where?"

Bloom was already standing up and grabbing our coats. "To Alfea Corp."

"No," I groaned. "I'm sure we don't want to see each other right now. Besides, he is in meetings all night, remember?"

"No. You told me he invited you over before he got in that meeting, remember?"

"I have no idea what time the meeting actually is, so no." I attempted to sit back down but highly underestimated Bloom's strength because she pulled me right back up.

"Well, let's make a guess that now is that time."

* * *

We arrived at Alfea Corp in less than eight minutes. The closer we got there, the more I really did realize how much I overreacted. I was still a little stung by the fact he cancelled again, but Bloom was right before: I knew Brandon was a busy man before we even began dating.

As we walked up to the receptionist desk, I see Flora talking with someone on the phone. She gives me a smile, though it had surprise in it. I return the favor, but can't help but notice that her ring finger was empty.

Bloom was tapping her foot impatiently and I rammed my elbow into her side. She scowled at me as Flora hung up the phone. "Hello, ladies. Welcome to Alfea Corporations. How can I help you?"

I rolled my eyes. "You really have to use that generic greeting with me?"

"Sorry," she says sheepishly. "It's just kind of stuck in my head. I _am_ surprised to see you here, though."

"Why?" Bloom asked with her head tilted.

Flora dared a glance at her but quickly looked back at me and said, "Well, I knew you and Brandon were supposed to have a date tonight but Brandon told me about how he had to cancel. The way he said it made it sound like you were definitely not happy about it."

"Oh. Was he… mad or anything?" I asked hesitantly.

Flora shrugged. "Not really but he did sound really tired like he always seems to be nowadays. I've been telling him since forever ago that he needs a vacation. You can go on up to his office if you want. I think he is on a small break right now."

She looks over at Bloom again. "I'm guessing you'll be joining her too, Miss…"

I'm just now realizing that Bloom and Flora may have never been formally introduced. I was just about to introduce them, but Bloom beat me to the punch.

"I'm Bloom, Stella's roommate slash best friend. You don't remember me?"

"Well, you look familiar," Flora confessed.

"I'm also Sky's girlfriend."

Recognition beamed in Flora's eyes. "Oh! I'm sorry."

Bloom smiled and waved her apology off. "No problem. I've been meaning to tell you what a nice Wedding party that was. You and Riven look great together." She glanced down at Flora's finger and widened her eyes. "Uh… I'm sorry if-"

Flora had paled a bit by then but replied, "It is fine."

We stood in a couple of awkward, silent moments until Bloom cleared her throat. "So… I'll be leaving. I just was only dropping Stella off here. Bye, guys!" she exclaims quickly and rushes out the door. I shake my head in exasperation.

"Sorry about th-"

"It's no trouble, really," Flora said and pointed to the elevator. "Go on up."

I sent her a small smile before fast-walking toward the elevator. As I rode up I thought of what exactly I would say to Brandon. I mean, I know what I _should_ say but it doesn't mean that what I say will come out the right way.

His office door was ajar when I approached it. One glance around the room and I saw that he wasn't here. I step inside and close the door firmly behind me.

Sighing, I walk over and plop down in his desk chair. He must have already left for his meeting. _I'll just wait here for him then._ After about ten minutes, I laid my head down on the desk. A girl has to rest her eyes sometimes, you know? I didn't realize I was drifting off...

* * *

A warm, light pressure on my cheek woke me up. My eyes fluttered open to see a pair of beautiful brown eyes staring back at me. Brandon smiled gently at me and said, "Hey."

"Hi," I whisper back and sit up. I look back down at his desk and my cheeks flamed. "Uh, sorry about the drool." I use the edge of my sleeve to wipe up the tiny mess.

Brandon grins slightly. "No harm done." He sits on the desk edge, facing me. "I didn't think you would come here. Especially considering our last conversation."

"Yeah, about that… I overreacted. I mean, we haven't spent much time together recently and I just got crabby when you cancelled _again._" He tried to speak but I held up a hand. "Just let me finish. I get that you're a busy man and I respect that. I just want a little Snookum time."

He chuckles at my facial expression. "And you'll get that time soon. Actually, you'll be getting it all next week." I gave him a curious look.

"What are you talking about?"

"I made enough changes in my schedule so that I can go with you to your Dad's place for Thanksgiving."

I stay put for a second before launching up from the chair and into his arms. "Really?"

Brandon stands up with me still wrapped around him. "Yes, really. That's the reason I've been having all these meetings and stuff this week instead of next week."

I pull back and hit him on his arm. He winces jokingly. "What was that for?"

"Why didn't you just tell me that?" I may have not been such a witch about everything if I had known that.

"Because I didn't want to hear you say, 'Brandon, stop working yourself so hard' or 'Brandon, you don't have to do that for me'." He mocked my voice which made me pinch him in the stomach. He laughed and kissed my lips lightly. Even that little kiss sent a shiver down my spine. "Come on, you know that's exactly what you would've said."

I scowled at him. "I wouldn't have said that."

"Yes you would've."

"No I wouldn't."

"Yes you would."

I pursed my lips. "Okay, I might have said that."

"Exactly." He wrapped me in his arms again.

"Wait, what about your family? Don't you usually celebrate Thanksgiving with them?" I asked.

Brandon shook his head. "Nah. We're all in different states most of the time. I do eat at a restaurant with Flora every once in a while."

"Hmm..." That was pretty sad. This wonderful man hasn't had a proper Thanksgiving in maybe forever. I hope my 'family' doesn't screw this up.

Resting his chin atop my head he said, "Besides, I need this vacation as much as you do."

"Seeing my dysfunctional, phony, and rude family isn't exactly what I would call a vacation." I mumble into his chest.

"I think you're over exaggerating."

I pulled back. "No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

I put my hands on my hips. "How are you going to tell me if I'm over exaggerating or not?"

"Because," Brandon clasped the hands I had on my hips with his own hands, "I know you."

"So you say."

He only smiled in response.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooo much for the reading and reviewing! Sorry it took so long to get this up but School gets very hectic most of the time.**

**So, do you all agree that Stella was overreacting? This won't be the last time we will see her exaggerations, trust me.**

**So Brandon's meeting the parentals. What do you think is going to happen there? Is it going to be a peaceful visit or drama induced one? I think you all may already know the answer to that one ;-)**

**If you haven't noticed, I'm trying to bring all the Winx club characters into this story. I think you'll be surprised at how I'm working in the next characters soon.**

**But, of course, I must know your thoughts on this chapter to get me motivated for the next chapter. Plus, it's Spring Break next week meaning I'll have some extra time on my hands.**

**So... Review!**


	13. Car Ride

**Chapter 13: Car Ride**

I sit down on the hood of Brandon's car as he paces back and forth, talking on his phone.

"Yes… wait, never mind. Turn that over to the generation firm… no the other one, genius!" He exclaims into the phone. I shush him.

"Don't wake up the entire apartment complex!" I whisper-shout at him. He smirks apologetically. We decided to leave at six in the morning because we wanted to beat some traffic on the way. It was a six hour drive so we should be in Georgia by noon, not including potty breaks.

Brandon was currently ordering Sky about how to run the business for a week. He agreed that no business calls or texts or even emails were allowed on the trip. So I guess it's better for him to get in his last minute directions before leaving Alfea Corporations in Sky's hands.

I glanced at my watch to see it was now 6:30. We are getting way too far off schedule. I slapped Brandon on his shoulder and pointed to my watch. He seemed to get the message as he sighed and said his last comments to Sky.

"Alright I have to leave now… Don't screw this up Sky… I'm not kidding! If I come back and anything wrong happened… Yeah, yeah. I'll tell her," He muttered and hung up the phone.

"Sky said hello," He tells me and walks over to the passenger's side of the car, opening the door for me. I bypass him and walk to the driver's side of the car. He gives me a confused look.

"Uh, Stells? What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm driving. Like we agreed yesterday," I replied simply. He was already shaking his head as he walked to my side.

"No, no, no. I believe the deal was that I would drive and you would give directions."

"Oh, come on, Snookums! That was a stupid deal. I'm not a damn GPS." I crossed my arms, making sure I put some extra attitude in it. Maybe his nickname would soften him into letting me drive this time. "At least let me drive for 30 minutes."

"I explained this before, Gorgeous," Brandon sighed. "You don't understand all the mechanics that go into driving this type of vehicle."

I rolled my eyes. "It's a Mercedes. Anyone could drive it." I punch him in the shoulder lightly. He over-exaggeratedly winced.

"How about this," he put his hand on the small of my back and begins guiding me back to the other side of the car, "I'll let you drive 30 minutes on the way back if you let me drive all the way there. Deal?"

I'm pretty sure that was as good as it was going to get so I just shrugged in agreement. At first I thought he just didn't want me to drive because he didn't think I was good at it, but now I think it's just his weird attachment to it. I'll never understand men and cars.

* * *

"I have to pee," I complained to Brandon.

Brandon arched an eyebrow. "It's only been an hour and a half. I thought you went to the bathroom before we left."

"That was after you took a thirty minute phone call. So technically, I haven't peed in two hours," I defended.

"I told you not to drink that energizer drink. Now you'll have to wait for the next exit," Brandon conceded and I nodded. He _did_ tell me not too, but I was thirsty. Now that I think about it, I probably shouldn't have drunk it this earlier in the morning anyway.

Brandon rubs his shoulder for like the tenth time. I don't think he knows I've noticed.

"Hey, is your shoulder okay? Didn't know I hit you that hard," I teased half-heartedly.

He gave me a rueful look. "My shoulder always gives me trouble. I forgot to take my meds this morning."

"You're taking medicine? What kind is it? Just painkillers?" I asked out of concern.

"Yeah, something like that," he replies in a tone meaning to end the conversation. Okay,then.

I cross my legs and bite my lip. When I have to go to the bathroom, I _really_ have to go. Maybe a distraction will get my mind off of my bladder.

I snap my head over to Brandon. "Let's play a game."

Brandon arched an eyebrow but kept his eyes on the road. "Uh, alright. What game did you have in mind?"

I raced through my brain for fun car games that my mom and I used to play. I started thinking we could play 'I Spy' but Brandon had to concentrate on the road, not look around everywhere else.

Brandon spoke up with an idea of his own. "How about story time?"

I frowned. "I'm not trying to take a nap, Brandon."

"I know but I have a question that I wanted you to explain to me. How about I ask you something and you do the same."

I pondered this for a moment. There definitely _was_ something I have been itching to know about him, but I'm not sure he wants to talk about it. He never seems to want to talk about it. "I can ask you anything?"

He nodded. "But I get to ask you first."

"Okay, what do ya want to know?"

Brandon waited a few moments before asking, "What exactly happened with your step-mom?"

"What do you mean? I told you she was evil," I stated.

"Yeah but you never said _why_ she was so evil. Plus, I need to know more about what I'm dealing with before I meet her."

"I didn't know that needed an explanation," I mumbled but sat up straighter. "I was a bunch of stuff she used to do like burn my food or shrink my clothes in the dryer. _On purpose."_

"Well… how do you know it was on purpose?"

"You just know these things. She would always make these snide comments about my hair or my face, too. She always criticized me like I wasn't good enough to be considered part of her family, even by marriage. One time she said my eyes looked like bug eyes. I didn't think they were that big, but she just had to put her two cents in." I frowned. "That's how I got the nickname 'bug eyes' for the rest of my life. She and that wicked step-sister of mine called me that forever."

"Wait, they still call you that?" Brandon asks incredulously.

I nodded. "Yep. Well, right until I left. I haven't even spoken to them since I left to come to North Carolina."

"Hmm," Brandon hummed, soaking in the new information. Then, grinning, he grasped my hand and said, "Well, I think you have the most gorgeous eyes I've ever seen."

I rolled my eyes but blushed slightly at his compliment. "Aren't you the charmer," I teased.

He shrugged. "That's what they tell me."

I smiled and bounced in my seat a little bit. "Okay, now it's your turn. Ready?"

"I'm actually kind of scared what you're about to ask," Brandon says warily.

"Oh, suck it up. I want to know the full story on Mitzi."

Brandon groaned. "How did I not know you would ask me that question?"

I shrugged and waited for him to continue. It took a few minutes but he finally sighed and said, "Didn't I tell you part of it already?"

"I remember you saying that she was pretty bad on drugs and one night some guys came to your house when your parents weren't home… but that's where you stopped."

"Uh, well it was just me and Flora at home. The drug dealers broke down the damn door and started yelling at us, wanting to know where Mitzi was. I didn't know but I guess they didn't believe me since the first man slapped me half-way across the room."

I sucked in a breath. Oh, how much I hated tis man I didn't even know.

"Flora screamed and one of the guys started walking towards her. I got up and ran to stand in front of her. That's when the other guy pulled out a gun."

"A gun?" I squeaked out.

"He threatened to shoot us if we didn't tell where she was. I could tell he was bluffing: he didn't look like the killing kids type of guy. The first man unfortunately did. When Flora screamed at them that we didn't know anything, the first guy snatched the gun from the other guy and the first guy pointed it at Flora. I wrapped myself around her the best I could before he shot. After that, I guess they got scared that they actually shot a kid and ran."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. He _shot_ Flora?"

Brandon shook his head as he turned towards the exit leading to a gas station. "No. He shot me."

I guess I was still in shock since I was gaping like a fish. "I… wha… are you _serious_?"

"Not something I'd joke about, Gorgeous," he said gruffly.

"I know! I'm just can't believe that happened."

Brandon shrugged slightly. "It happens." _Um…not really. _"Flora was going crazy afterwards. After my surgery, she wouldn't leave my side for months. Apparently I was her knight in shining armor." He grinned fondly of his little sister.

_You are, _I thought but didn't say it out loud. Based on his shoulder problems, I'm guessing I already know where he was shot.

"So that's what the meds are for, right?" When he nodded I asked, "How long have you been on them?"

"Well, I started them at fifteen so... about ten years. I still go to my doctor to get my medicine dosages adjusted. I'll most likely be on them for the rest of my life. The bullet nicked some type of nerve that can't be fixed."

I squeezed his hand. I hate even imagining Brandon in the kind of pain. Even at a time I didn't know he even existed.

"Anyways, eventually my parents forgave her. How that happened, I'll never know. They got her into some secluded rehab center to keep her out of the newspapers. If people got wind of this drug scandal, it would ruin the family reputation. Even Flora let her back in her life. All I know is that she's no sister of mine."

I was silent for a few moments. "I don't blame you but... I don't think holding all that hate in your heart is good for you."

"Who said I hated her?"

I snorted. "You didn't have to say it. Your actions towards her spoke loudly enough to let me know that."

"I could say the same about you and your step-family."

Damn. I hate it when he had a point. "Touché."

He smirks just as he parks the car next to a gas tank. "You can use the bathroom while I get gas," he states as if he didn't just talk about a very difficult subject for him. I reached across the seat, grabbed his face in between my hands and smacked a full-on kiss to his lips. He smiled against my mouth but responded nonetheless.

I pulled back and smiled before jumping out of the car. I looked back at the window to see him shaking his head and grinning to himself.

* * *

"Stella, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Why?"

"Your legs and feet are shaking so hard that you're vibrating the whole car."

I stopped my legs at once. I hadn't even noticed my subconscious shaking.

"Sorry," I say sheepishly. Brandon reaches across and places his hand on my knee.

"Are you really this nervous?"

"I'm not nervous," I snap. "I'm just… you know…. I haven't seen my Dad since… forever ago and…"

"You haven't seen your step-family since then either, I'm guessing."

I shrug. "I would love to skip on seeing them," I mumble.

"Come on, Gorgeous. They may have changed since five years ago." I snorted and didn't respond. I highly doubt they changed; evil like that tends to stay the same. Brandon may think that I was being a bit of a drama queen or exaggerating about them but he had no idea what he was in for. I seriously hope this trip won't spook him away from me.

"Is it the next left or right?" He asked. I wanted to tell him the next right so it would delay us from the real direction of the house but what's the point in delaying the inevitable?

"Next left." He squeezed my knee and put his hand back on the wheel to turn the car.

There it is. The second house on the right. 4794 New Palace Place. Brick house with two flower beds out front. Neatly trimmed green grass with a gnome right beside the mailbox. The only difference to my previous home seemed to be the colors of the roof. Must have been Cassandra's idea. Who in the hell paints a roof? Let alone paint it lime green.

As soon as we pulled up to the drive-way, my father steps out of the house, tailed by Cassandra. My dear step- sister isn't with them yet. I'm hoping she isn't in the house either.

My father gave me a huge, joyful smile as I walked over to him. He wrapped me in a hug, lifting me up off my feet.

"Welcome home, Baby Girl!"

* * *

**A/N: THANKS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH FOR THE CONTINUED SUPPORT OF THIS STORY!**

**Sorry for the lateness of this chapter as well as the shortness. School has definitely been kicking my butt lately and I have to get that education, you know? Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**How was Brandon's story of Mitzi? Did you expect that to be what happened? Do you think Brandon should eventually forgive Mitzi? Do you think Stella is going to stay out of it?**

**Next chapter is Thanksgiving dinner! Aren't you excited? I surely am. I'm going to have a ball writing that chapter... But of course, you must tell me if I even should write the next chapter. **

**So...Review!**


	14. Brandon's POV: Meeting the Parentals

**Chapter 14: Brandon's POV**

I shut the trunk of my car and walked towards the front porch, luggage in hand. Stella was currently being squeezed to death by her father's bear hug.

"Uh, Dad? I can't breathe."

"Oh. Sorry," He replies sheepishly and releases her from his hold, still keeping his hands clasped on her shoulders. "You look great, sweetheart! It's been far too long."

She sighs, "Sorry about that."

Mr. Solaria shook his head. "It doesn't matter now. All that matters is you're here." He smiled fondly down at her. Before Stella could reply, a tall blond woman behind Mr. Solaria cleared her throat.

The woman is only who I can assume to be Stella's "evil step-witch". I hate to admit it, but she was really pretty. With long thick blond hair and pretty tan legs to match. My God, am I checking out a 40-something year old woman?

Mrs. Solaria smiled warmly at Stella. "Stella Bear! It's so good to see you again." Surprisingly, she threw her arms around Stella and hugged her tightly.

Stella's back was to me, but I could tell by her stiff posture that she didn't like that hug at all. She pulled back as quickly as she could. "Um… nice to see you too."

Evil step-witch nodded in satisfaction and turned her sights on me. Uh-oh. I've never been good with other people's parents. Then again, I've only met one pair of parents before this. Let's not even get into that mess of a night. I set the luggage down.

"And who is this?" Mrs. Solaria asked. I'm not really seeing this evil streak in her that Stella described. Maybe as the night wears on, she'll show her true self.

Stella turns and skips to my side, her mood seemingly lifted. "Brandon, this is my father and… step-mother. Dad," she says to her father and only her father, "this is Brandon; my boyfriend." She smiled up at me brightly and I couldn't help but grin back down at her. She had one of those beautiful, infectious smiles that I can't help but lo… like.

I've been doing that little slip-up with the L word a lot lately. Do I love Stella? I don't think there is much of a doubt anymore that I do. Yeah, I know that it's only been a little while since we've been together romantically, but we knew each other long before we actually started dating. The real question I am dying to know: Does Stella love me?

"Brandon. That's a lovely name," Mrs. Solaria says with a warm grin but for some reason she looked surprised to see me.

"Thank you, ma'am."

She waved her hands around. "Oh, please don't call me that. It makes me feel old. Just call me Cassandra." I nod and smile back at her as Mr. Solaria walked up to me. We were about the same height, him being a couple of inches shorter than me. Height made no difference to him since he was giving me a look that would have lesser men cringing away.

Good thing I'm not a lesser man.

He didn't say anything, just stared at me. I'd have to admit, I was getting kind of uncomfortable under his stare, but I refused to look away. I know for a fact that this was an intimidation test. Stella broke the tension slightly by nudging me with her hip. I glanced down at her and she made a quick, jerky motion with her head towards her Dad. Apparently she wants me to break the silence first.

I held out my hand that wasn't holding Stella's. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Stella has only said good things." Well, that was definitely not true, but I could use some suck-up points right now.

He stared down at my hand for a moment before grasping it, hard. "Yes, well I can't say the same about you. I didn't even know that Stella had a… different male friend."

I arched an eyebrow. Wait… Stella hasn't even told him that she broke up with her tool of an ex-boyfriend. What the hell? He didn't even know I existed until _now_.

Before I even could look down at Stella, she sputtered out, "I'm sorry about that. I wanted it to be a… surprise?" It came out as more of a question that an explanation. "I mean, I told you my boyfriend was going to come along, Dad."

"Yes, but how was I to know it wasn't Steven?" Her father rebutted. Cassandra stepped up to her husband's side, looking at Stella.

"I'd have to say that I was looking forward to seeing Steven on this trip. What ever happened to you two?" She asked, tilting her head in curiosity. Stella was currently squeezing the hell out of my hand. I looked down at her, but she was staring stonily at her step-mother.

I honestly didn't know what to think of this situation. I know that she didn't keep in good contact with her family, but seriously? If she told them that she was bringing a boyfriend, why not squeeze in there that you have a new one? Seems like pretty important information to me. It apparently wasn't to her, though.

"Like I said, I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Yeah," I pulled my hand out of her death grip, "this is a great surprise." She tries to say something in response, but I cut her off by asking, "Mrs. Solaria, do you mind if I use your restroom?"

Cassandra tore her eyes away from Stella and nodded slowly. "Wait one second." She walked to the open door and shouted into the house, "Chimera! Get down here, please!"

After giving me one last glare, Mr. Solaria turned around in the direction towards his wife. Stella took that opportunity to tug my arm sharply. "Brandon, it's not what you think. Look at me."

Yeah, it was petty but I looked stubbornly in front of me instead of looking at her. The fact that she didn't tell her Dad about me kind of… hurt. God, I'm becoming such a girl.

She sighed. "Look, I'm so-"

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in after practically five years," a nasally voice squeaked out. Looking at the doorway, I see a short, petite raven-haired girl. The blue streaks in her hair weren't very appealing.

"Chimera." Stella spat her name like a bad curse word.

"Hey, sis. It's been far too long since we had the chance to talk. And it seems you've brought some new eye candy with you." Chimera's eyes raked up and down my figure. Really? She was checking me out right in front of Stella. What is up with these Solaria women?

Stella step in front of me slightly. "Not the type of candy you can handle," Stella says in an overly sweet voice.

Chimera rolled her eyes and swayed over to us, putting extra emphasis on her "hips". She was wearing some pretty short shorts with probably the tightest shirt known to man. It may have been attractive if not for the fact that we were in the dead of winter.

Apparently, I'm not the only one to notice. "Chimera, what the hell are you wearing? You'll catch a cold," Mr. Solaria pointed out.

"You don't catch a cold from cold weather, old man. It's from viruses." She looks up at me, evaluating my face. "What's your name again?"

"Brandon."

"Well, Brandon," she sticks her hand out, "I think we're going to have a great time this week."

"Uh…" I hesitate to shake her hand. I'm pretty sure Stella would blow a vessel if I did and even though I'm sort of ticked off at her, it doesn't mean I want to make her angry as well.

Luckily I didn't have to make a decision considering Stella yanked my arm so we were standing closer together.

"I can show him to the bathroom myself. I'm sure it hasn't changed from the last time I was here." I let Stella pull me past Chimera and her parents and into the house.

Once we're in the house and halfway down a secluded hallway, I pull my arm out of her grasp. "Hey, easy on the shoulder."

"Oh!" Stella immediately stops and rests her hand gently on my shoulder. "Are you okay?" I smile in my head at her concern. She may be a little crazy at times but this was the part of Stella that I lo… like a lot.

"I'm fine," I respond, gruffly. Stella blew out a frustrated breath.

"Are you seriously angry?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. How about you explain to me why your father didn't even know I existed until I popped up in his driveway."

"I really did want it to be a surprise. Wait!" she exclaims as I try to step around her. "I'm not lying."

"Yes you are, Stella. I can tell by the way you said it outside. Tell me the truth."

"Alright, alright. I was just… embarrassed-"

"You were embarrassed of me?"

Stella's eyes widened. "No! Never. I was embarrassed of Steven," she admitted sheepishly.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Stella, that makes no sense whatsoever. Why the hell would you be embarrassed of your ex-boyfriend?" Okay, now I was getting angry. Why does this douche-bag keep getting into our relationship one way or another?

"The whole reason I left this place five years ago was for him", she explains. "I made a whole speech about how good he was and how he was going to take care of me to my Dad. Instead he ends up dumping me because he was more interested in the hoe next door. That's embarrassing, Brandon."

I raised an eyebrow, incredulously. "Okay, and you thought bringing a new guy to your Dad was going to be better than telling him upfront?"

"I didn't think it all the way through," she mumbled, looking down.

"No, you didn't."

She raised her head, indignantly. "Look, I'm sorry but don't look down on me for a simple mistake."

I laughed without humor. "A simple mistake? Stella, you knew exactly what you were doing. You put me under the impression that your Dad knew about us, but instead you made me look like an idiot because you were too 'embarrassed' to mention me," I said, putting finger quotations up when I said embarrassed.

She threw her arms up quickly and let them fall back down to her sides with a thump. "I wasn't trying to make you look bad! I just-"

A throat clearing behind me stopped Stella in the middle of her sentence. "Brandon, did you find the bathroom to your liking?"

I turned around to the squeaky voice of Chimera. She was leaning on the wall with her arms crossed. From the look on her face, I'm guessing she heard just about everything we were just arguing about.

Stella huffed. "That wouldn't be any of your business even if he wanted it to be, twit."

"I'm sorry but I do believe my question was for Brandon, not you," Chimera snapped.

Stella was about to retort, but I answered before she could respond. "It was fine." I didn't really have to go to the bathroom anyway. I was hoping Stella and I could get a moment alone and she could help me understand why she didn't tell her family about me. Looks like I got that, but it wasn't as productive as I would've liked it to be.

"Did you drive the whole way here?" Chimera asked. When I nodded she gasped. "You must be dead tired! Isn't that like a six or seven hour drive?"

"Yeah, but I didn't mind."

"Well, I already made the guest room up for you. Sorry, but it's separate from yours, Stella. We wouldn't want Daddy to get upset, right Stells?"

"Of course." Stella sounded like she was gritting her teeth together. Man, she really hated this girl.

"So, what do you say? You want a nap?" Chimera asked me.

I could feel Stella's eyes boring holes in my back, but I ignored it. "Actually, I could really use a little shut-eye."

Chimera seemed to brighten at that. "I'll show you to your room."

"I can-"

"No, Stells, Daddy wants you to speak with you. Now."

Stella doesn't move until I turn around. She was looking at me, obviously not wanting to leave our argument unresolved. I can only guess the thousands of thoughts going through her head now. You see, Stella is a drama queen at heart. She overreacts to the smallest things sometimes so I know she might be thinking I hate her right now. That just won't do.

I leaned down and placed a soft kiss to her lips. "We'll talk later."

She hesitated slightly but then gave me quick kiss in return before walking back down the hallway.

"Are you ready? Daddy already brought your bags inside the house." I shrugged in response and followed Chimera as she led me towards the stairs.

"So…" she began, "How long have you and my dearest sister been hookin' up?"

_Hookin' up? _"We've been _dating_ for a little over a month, I think."

"And she's already introducing you to the parentals? That's moving fast don't you think?"

I'm really going to have to have a conversation later about this girl's vocabulary. "Not really. I really care about your sister."

We reached the top of the stairs when she stopped and turned to me. "How much?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," as she stepped closer I moved back until I was flat against the wall, "how much does she mean to you?"

Okay, maybe I just stepped into an alternate universe. Or maybe I'm having a nightmare. Oh, I bet I must have passed out from falling on the stairs or something. These were all plausible reasons for why Stella's maybe 16-year-old sister is coming on to me. The only thing is that this isn't fake. This is reality.

I'll try to be nice about this, for Stella's sake. I put my hands on Chimera's shoulders, intending to gently push her away. Unfortunately, she had other plans.

Chimera grabbed my face between her hands and forced her overly glossy lips onto mine. I grunted in shock and then disgust. What the hell is wrong with this girl? I kept my mouth closed in a tight line and pushed her away from me, more forcefully than I originally wanted to.

She fell back against the opposite wall but stayed upright, smiling. "Better than I thought."

"Are you freaking insane?!" I whisper-shouted at her, wiping my mouth off with my sleeve.

She shrugged. "I just wanted to see-"

"I don't give two shits what you wanted to see," I interrupted, coldly. "I'm together with your sister, not you. I like kissing your sister and sure as hell not you. I _love_ your sister, not you. So keep your grubby hands to yourself." I brushed past her and to the door that had my luggage in front of it.

"Wait!" She tried grabbing my sleeve, but I snatched my arm away, jolting my bad shoulder. I hissed lowly so she couldn't hear, but the pain wasn't receding anytime soon. I need to take my meds and go to sleep for a while.

"What," I snapped.

Chimera placed her hands on her hips. "I'm sorry you felt violated or whatever but you can't honestly tell me that Bug Eyes can kiss better than me."

I just stared at her for a moment before answering. "First of all, don't call her that damn nickname anymore. Second, the fact that you think you even could compare to her is stupid. Did you really think you could?"

She narrowed her eyes at me. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Really? If it's not then how about you go downstairs and tell your parents about it." Her eyes widened at the thought, panicking. "That's what I thought. Just…stay away from me, got it?"

She shifted from one foot to another. "I will, I will. But you won't tell, right?" She tried to ask in a nonchalant way, but it came across as fear more than anything else.

I didn't answer her question. "Get away from here," I ordered her instead. With a huff, she rushed back down the stairs. Rubbing my forehead in exhaustion, I stepped into the guest room.

It was a quaint little room with a single bed pushed against the far wall. The closest is nowhere as big as mine at home but it will suffice. I'll sleep about anywhere right now to get my mind off of what just happened.

I know I have to tell Stella. If I don't tell her, then she will somehow find out from someone else and it would blow up in my face even more. Maybe I should wait until we get back to North Carolina. That way she can't attempt to throttle her step-sister.

As I took my pill, I wondered why Chimera kissed me anyway. Was she really just a hoe or as she trying to prove something. I mean, what would she be trying to prove? It made no sense and was beginning to give me a headache. I was thinking of taking a shower earlier, but I'll wait until I wake up.

It also didn't skip my mind that I told Chimera that I loved Stella. I wasn't really even thinking of it when I said it, but now… now I know it's true.

I'm in love with Stella Solaria.

**A/N: Thanks sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much for the reading and reviewing.**

**Did I shock you with the POV change? It was just a thought to do it. I know a lot of people don't like the whole POV changing in a story but I thought it was necessary for this chapter. Did you like it? Do you guys think I should do it more in the future?**

**I promise Thanksgiving dinner is next chapter. This chapter kind of just had a mind of it's own.**

**So…. Review!**


	15. Happy Thanksgiving

**Chapter 15: Happy Thanksgiving**

I toss myself onto my back on the bed, frustrated. It was 3 in the morning and the snores of my Dad can be heard even from across the hallway. These walls were _way _too thin. Everyone seems to be able to sleep soundly. Except for me.

No, I'm completely restless. I did sleep for a few hours earlier but since then, no shut-eye for me. Brandon has been out ever since we've gotten here. My poor Snookums must have been dog tired. Not that he's talking to me right now anyways. This is probably why I can't go back to sleep. My mind keeps racing when I think about all that happened yesterday. I was hoping to talk to Brandon after his nap, but that didn't happen so I feel bad that this issue is going unresolved. Maybe he just can't stand to talk to me right now…

I hear a door creak open from down the hallway. If I remember correctly, the only creaking bedroom door in this house is the guest room door, which means that Brandon is awake and moving around. I wait until I hear whoever it is walk down the stairs, and then open my door slightly to check which door opened. Yep, I was right. Hmm, he's probably starving from missing dinner.

I walk quietly down to the first floor and peak around the wall to see Brandon rifling through one of his bags that were left downstairs. He swore quietly, apparently not finding what he was looking for. I decided to make my presence known.

Clearing my throat, I said, "Whatcha looking for?"

Brandon jumped slightly in surprise and looked over at me. "Oh, I was just looking for that pack of extra cookies. I guess I didn't bring it like I thought."

"The chocolate ones?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," I say sheepishly. "I kind of ate those in the car. Sorry!" Brandon stared at me for a moment before chuckling and shaking his head.

"It's fine. I was just looking for something to tide my stomach over until breakfast."

"I can make you something," I piped.

"No, you don't have to. I'll be fine." I was shaking my head and already pushing him towards the kitchen before he could even finish.

"Now sit," I commanded him and he reluctantly plopped down in a nearby chair. I waltzed on over to the cupboard above the stove.

"Does PB&J sound good?" I asked.

"I'll take anything," he replies with a sideways grin. When our eyes locked, he cleared his throat and turned away. "You really don't have to though."

I ignored him and shut the cupboard back after taking out the bread and peanut butter. After placing them on the table, I turned and grabbed the jelly in silence. The whole process took maybe ten seconds but the entire time I felt Brandon staring at me. When I finally looked him straight in the eye, he turned his face away again.

I sighed. "Come on, Brandon. I know I made you angry but-"

"I'm not mad, Stella," Brandon began but that was a bold face lie. The fact alone that he was still calling me Stella instead of his nickname for me let me know that he was still angry. I stopped him by stomping my foot. Yes, I stomped my foot like a three year old. Not one of my finer moments.

"Yes you are! You won't even look at me."

Brandon's eyebrows pulled together. "I am looking at you."

"Not in my eyes! There a huge difference between my face and my eyes." I walked to the counter and hop onto it, swinging my legs lazily.

Brandon was silent for a few moments before quietly responding. "Okay, I'm a little mad at what happened. But," he says as I try to open my mouth for an apology, "I was thinking about things when I woke up and it's more about the reason you did it than what you did it."

"Because I was too scared to tell my Dad?" He must think I'm a huge coward now.

"Because of Steven," He grits out, surprising me.

"Steven?"

Brandon looked up to the ceiling. "Stella," I rolled my eyes at his use of my real name, "do you know how many freaking times your ex-boyfriend has gotten in the middle of our relationship without even physically being here? Gosh, I haven't even met the guy before and I still want to punch him in the face.

"At first you didn't want to even kiss me because you were afraid I would like _he_ did. Then you didn't want to be in a relationship me because _he_ was bad to you. You get constantly jealous of women who are around me because something in you is scared that I'll do the same thing that _he_ did."

I gasped. "That is not true! I know you wouldn't cheat." That was true; I trusted him whole-heartedly.

"That's not the point, Stella! The point is that you're not… you're still… a part of you is still hung up on Steven," he proclaimed. I jumped down from the counter.

"Are you crazy!?" I whisper-shouted, trying to keep in mind that my 'family' was sleeping upstairs. "I care nothing for that man anymore."

Brandon shook his head. "Just forget it." He stood up as well and took over my earlier job at creating the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I walked over to him and put my hand on his arm, stopping his movement. His arm tensed up but he remained still.

"Brandon, he is nothing to me compared to how I feel about you. Can't you see that?"

He clenched his jaw. "Don't make me sound like I'm just jealous, because I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, you-"

"Stella! Do you seriously not get what I'm saying?"

"Yes, but what you're saying is idiotic! I _don't_ have feelings for him." Why was it so hard for him to understand that? The only thing I could feel towards my ex-boyfriend is anger. A lot of it. But that feeling is directed _at_ him not _for_ him. (If that makes any sense.)

Brandon just stared at me for a few seconds then he hesitantly nodded. "Okay."

I can tell he still didn't believe me. As if I could ever not care for this man more than anything else. I guess I'm going to have to prove this fact a little more. I tugged on his arm until he was fully turned towards me. I placed my hands on both sides of his face. He's not pulling away so I guess that's progress.

"What do I have to do to prove it to you?" I asked earnestly.

He shrugged slightly, causing me to smile at his vulnerability. Brandon isn't usually like this. It's rare for me to see a vulnerable side of him since he always tries being strong and official.

"Well, I can assure you," I move my hands from his face and wrap my arms around his neck, "that you are the _only_ man for me. Trust me, you aren't getting rid of Stella Solaria anytime soon, Snookums." He fails to hide his grin this time as he pulled me into a tight hug. I sigh in satisfaction and hug him tighter.

"Sooo… does this mean you're not mad anymore?" I ask, my voice muffled by his shoulder.

"Help me finish making these sandwiches and I'll be the happiest guy on Earth, Gorgeous," he replied letting me go. He was surprised, though, when I jumped forward and crushed our lips together. His surprise drained quickly and he smiled against my lips.

Pulling back, I said, "I never thought I would miss you calling me gorgeous. Never call me Stella again, 'kay?"

Brandon raised an eyebrow. "Conceited much?"

"Oh, shut up and help with these sandwiches."

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

I brush my hair back into a ponytail. It seemed like the only way my hair was going to cooperate with me tonight. I turned to face Brandon, who was sitting on the bed. "Does this look good?"

"Yes, Stells. Just like all the other hair styles you had on before that. Come on, it's not like we're going out to a restaurant or anything," Brandon replied, looking at the old pictures on my nightstand.

I turned back to the full length mirror. "I know, I know. I just want to look good. What's wrong with that?"

"You look great all the time, Gorgeous. No need for the extra stuff. Now," he stood and walked up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, "can we please go eat? I'm gettin' kind of hungry here."

I leaned back into Brandon's arms and sighed. The Thanksgiving dinner was almost ready and with every ticking minute closer to when the dinner arrived, I was getting more and more nervous. I wasn't looking forward to this awkward conversation with my estranged family. Things are bound to get messy but maybe my Step- family has changed while I was gone.

Probably not, though.

A knock at the door jolted me from my thoughts. Without me saying anything, Chimera opened the door and walked in like she owned the place. Gosh, she looks even sluttier than she was when I left. And that's an understatement.

She's seventeen years old now, if I'm not mistaken, but the way she dresses makes her look older. And not in a good way. Her clothes are still so tight that they look like they could be worn as a second skin and her makeup was horrendous. Okay, I may be sounding harsh but that girl terrorized me all the time we were kids. And she always got away with it! So, I don't really care if I'm being harsh. She deserves it.

"I don't remember saying you could come in," I snap at her as Brandon releases me.

She rolls her eyes, but places a hand on the doorknob. "Dinner is ready when you can tear your eyes away from the mirror." She glanced over at Brandon and put on a knowing smile. "Hello, Brandon."

I want to practically laugh at her attempt to reel Brandon into her charm. She's done it before (with two of my boyfriends before) but it just looks pathetic to me. Brandon tenses at her greeting and nods tensely without saying a word. _What's the about? _Maybe he senses her evil nature like I do.

"We're coming," I say. She nods in reply and steps out of the room. Not without giving Brandon another smile though. I shiver in disgust. "Ugh, I can't stand her. You say how she was practically undressing you with her eyes? I can't believe her…"

I drifted off once I noticed Brandon staring at the ground, scrunching his eyebrows together as if in deep thought. I nudge him. "What's wrong?"

He shakes his head and gives me a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Nothing… it's nothing. Let's go eat."

* * *

After blessing the food we all began passing the bowls of food to each other. Not before getting a helping of the food we pass, of course. Once we all had the food selections we wanted, there was silence as we ate. The beautiful silence didn't last for long and everything started to go downhill with the first question of the night.

"So, Brandon. What is it that you do exactly?" My father asked as Brandon was about to start digging into his mashed potatoes. He stops and addresses my Dad.

"I'm the CEO and partial owner of Alfea Corporations, the computer software and hardware companies around the United States. I've been in the business sin-"

"Whoa, hold up," Chimera interjected, "You own more than one of the biggest computer service companies in the world? How rich _are_ you?"

Cassandra frowned. "Chimera, don't be rude." Oh, so know she calls her out. Where was she when we were kids? Oh right, she was being rude to me.

Chimera raised her eyebrows innocently. "What? I was just asking. I'm surprised Stella could actually snag a rich guy for once. Maybe he'll help her pay the bills," she says, laughing at herself.

I clenched my fork in my hand. "Are you insinuating that I'm a gold digger?"

"Don't be silly, Stella," Dad said, waving his and around. "You've been living in North Carolina for at least five years now. You had to have had some job to keep you stable. Matter of fact, what do you do now?"

"I'm… uh… I'm a server." The table was silent as they processed this new bit of information.

Mitzi spoke up with amusement already in her voice. "You mean like a waitress?" I nodded and she burst out laughing.

_Don't let her get to you, Stella. Don't let her get to you, _I thought to myself, but the small prick of tears in my left eye didn't want to listen to my thoughts. Brandon reached under the table squeezed my hand in his. I didn't want him to see the tear in my eye so I kept my head turned the opposite direction from him, but I still squeezed his hand back.

"I don't see the problem with being a waitress, Chimera," Brandon says coming to my defense. I smiled to myself. He's always trying to be my knight in shining armor.

"Seriously? You see no problem with that?" She shook her head in shame. "How do you live off a minimum wage job in this day and age? She must be shacking up with you, huh."

"Chimera," Dad scolded but I already knew it wouldn't do much good. The damage is already done.

"Fine, fine. But you know what I'm curious about is what happened to Steven?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "None of your damn business."

"Watch your language, Stella Bear," Cassandra scolded lightly. "It seems like even though you broke up with Steven, you still picked up his bad habit of using bad words."

Brandon was drinking his water but I could see that he was tense again and that's just seemed to piss me off even more. "I didn't pick up anything from that jerk and I would appreciate if we didn't mention him again."

Chimera ignored my request and asked, "Was it because he was a bad kisser? I would believe that, since I've kissed him before. But maybe he's gotten better over the years, yeah? I know your new man candy here deserves an A+ in that department."

Brandon spit out a little water he was drinking and started coughing erratically. I ignored it and glared at Chimera. "What are you talking about?"

"Your boy-toy decided he wanted to see what I had to offer. I couldn't complain much, I mean, look at him."

Brandon got his breathing back under control. "She's lying! I didn't kiss her, she kissed me. I pushed her off-"

Chimera sighed. "Oh, Brandon. Say what you whatever you want to make yourself feel less guilty about what happened yesterday, but it isn't going to work."

Brandon ignored her and turned to my shocked face. "Stella, you know I wouldn't do that to you. She's twisting what happened-"

"So…you kissed?" I whispered. _Please say no. Please say no. Not again. Not again._

"She threw herself on me! Gorgeous," he took my hands in his before I could snatch them away, "you know I wouldn't do that to you. Tell me you don't believe her." I couldn't deny the truth in his eyes and the feeling in my heart. They were both telling me that he wasn't lying. My head, however, had different ideas but before I could act on those thoughts, Cassandra spoke.

"Stella, I do not understand why you're so upset. It's not like you're not used to men using you," she said as she cut into her pork chop. "Your infatuation with that Steven boy should've been your first clue that you're not a great picker when it comes to men."

"Would you just stop," Brandon says, exasperatedly. "Leave her alone."

"Watch your tone with my wife, young man," Dad replies. I snap my head up to him.

"So you'll defend her but you'll just let her talk crap about me?"

He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "Stella-"

I stood up. "Don't 'Stella' me! You've always done this and I'm so sick of it. You act like her lap dog! I see things haven't changed since I was last here."

"Watch your-"

"No! I won't watch anything!" I turned my sights on Chimera. "First of all, the only thing you'll ever succeed in life is doing your hair. Any and everything else has been handed to you, Brat. Bragging about making out with a hot guy doesn't make you cool it just proves further that you're really the slut I knew you were in the first place."

Her mouth hung open as I spewed my speech. But I wasn't done. I was on a roll. I glared at Cassandra. "And you. Always thinking you're high class and sooo important. News flash, YOU'RE NOT! You never were and never will be. The fact that you have to put down everyone so you can feel better about yourself doesn't make you superior, it makes you a bully. So how about you go fall in a ditch somewhere because I don't want to _ever_ see you again."

Dad slammed his hand on the table. "Stella, that is-"

"That's alright, Thomas," Cassandra interrupted calmly. I was fuming right now and the fact that she was calm made me even angrier. I don't remember ever feeling this mad. She continued, "Maybe Stella should be reminded of the time she thought _she_ was better than all of us. You know, when she decided to run off with Steven."

I gripped the table so hard that fingertips started to turn red. Brandon put his hand on my arm and tugged it. "Come on, Stells. Let's just go."

I shook him off. "Steven has nothing to do with what we're talking about."

Cassandra tilted her head to the side. "Or does he? Remember when you were so excited after he first kissed you? Then he broke your little heart when you caught him kissing another girl that same day."

"Shut up," I growled.

"But you forgave him, like an idiot. Then came the day he got you that ruby necklace, remember? You thought it was so unique and special. Just for you. Then you found out it was from the dollar store and that he gave the same one to the girl next door."

"What does that have to do wit-"

Cassandra sighed. "Then, once again, you still forgave him. When you turned eighteen and he got a new job in North Carolina, he begged you to go with him and start a new life, a family even. We told you not to go, that he would only break your heart again, but did you listen? No. And look what he did to you. I'm pretty sure he just threw you away after he got bored, right? That's what he usually did."

I stood up so fast that my chair flew back. "Shut up!" I shouted.

"Stella," Cassandra sighed, "when will you realize that you're just about as washed up as any girl in the world? Men use you and you let them. Your reason for calling Chimera a slut isn't the only way to be declared one. If I shall say so myself, you're more of a used up one than anything else."

I didn't have to say shut up this time because Brandon did it for me. He was angry. But I don't think I was. Not anymore. I think I'm just…tired. No, I've still got a little anger left in me.

How dare she? How could she say that? Does she really want to hurt me that bad? I looked at my Dad but he was just staring at his food. _Coward. Always has been and probably always will be when it comes to her._

I turn to glance at Chimera but I can't see her because of the tears in my eyes making my vision blurry. I stare at Cassandra's form once more. With all the venom that I could muster, I say, "I hate you."

Then I walk away.

* * *

**A/N: So… that was pretty heavy. Thanks to all the support you guys! Your reviews gave me the extra boost I needed to get this chapter up.**

**So sorry for the long delay but I hope the long chapter makes up for it. **** Did you guys like it? I don't think you should, I mean, Stella went through pretty hard time here, but at least now you know more about the history of her and Steven. Don't you just love him? **

**Tell me your thoughts. I know the direction I'm taking this story but your suggestions will definitely help me along the way. Next Chapter we should be back in North Carolina. How do you think things are going back there. Don't worry; I haven't forgotten Flora, Riven and Helia!**

**Are you drama lovers satisfied? Overly-satisfied? Sorry if it was too much but I liked it so hopefully you will too. But the only way I'll now if you liked it is if you review and let me know.**

**So…Review!**


	16. Coming Home

**Chapter 16: Coming Home**

I hurried up the stairs. I could hear Brandon hustling after me, calling my name. I couldn't answer him back right now or I'd break down right then and there. I was in the room and almost had my door shut before Brandon's shoe shot out and stopped it.

"Go away," I say but even those words are cracked.

"No," he says simply and pushes the door open more, stepping into the room and shutting it firmly. I stare at him icily for a moment then turn and walk to my closet.

"What are you doing?" he asks as I pull out my suitcase.

"I'm packing, what does it look like I'm doing," I reply, throwing my suitcase on the bed and proceeding to my clothes drawer. "I don't plan on staying here any longer."

Brandon is silent for a few moments. "Okay, but you do know it's almost 10 o'clock at night, right?"

I throw my shirts into the suitcase. "Yep."

"Gorgeous, stop for a minute," he softly requests but I continue packing as if I hadn't heard him.

"Stella," he grabs my arm from behind to stop my movements, "slow down. I know your upset but-"

I whirl around to face him, not even an inch of space between us. "But what, Brandon? I'm _not _staying in this damn house for another minute! Were you not down there? Did you not hear what they said to me? Who in their right mind would want to stay with a family like that?!" my voice rose with every sentence. Then I shook my head and breathed in deeply. Why was I yelling at him? He's not the Bad Guy here.

Brandon waited as I got my breathing under control. "I don't want to stay here," I whisper brokenly, more to myself than to him. Brandon stares intently into my eyes before pulling me to his chest. That was it. I couldn't hold the tears back anymore.

We slid to the floor as I released the most disgusting, gut-wrenching sobs known to man. I knew I had snot and all coming from me because that's how it usually is. And I'm getting it all over Brandon's shoulder. _Nice job, Stella._ But I couldn't help it. Every time I tried to pull myself together I just get assaulted with the comments from my "family" and I turn into a sobbing mess again.

"S-she was r-right you know," I say, hiccupping throughout the sentence. I didn't have to clarify who I was talking about. Brandon already knew.

"Whether she was right or not, you aren't that girl anymore, Stella. And you know for a fact that you aren't weak or being used by me."

I returned to my blabbering cries. It didn't matter if I wasn't that girl anymore. The fact that I _was _that girl is what disgusts me. For some reason, I can't stop reliving my past. I've been trying to forget all about the stupid mistakes I made with Steven. Now Brandon even knows about it. No matter what he says, I know that he must think of me as that foolish girl, the one who was in love and blind to wrongness of a bad relationship.

I don't remember how, but in the process of my crying I somehow ended up sitting sideways in Brandon's lap with him trying to sooth me rubbing my back and murmuring reassurances. The sound of his voice was so comforting that my sobs eventually turned into quiet sniffles and running tears.

"So," Brandon says, "Do you want to hear a joke?"

"No."

"What's a bear without teeth called?"

I sniffed. "I don't know. A toothless bear?"

"What? That's not even funny."

"Okay, then what is it?"

"It's called a gummy bear! Get it?"

I stayed silent and stifled a smile against his shoulder. The fact that the joke was so _not_ funny was funny to me for some reason. Probably because I know he was trying to distract me from pressing issues.

"Brandon, that has to be the worst joke known to man."

"Really? Fine, how about… what do you call cheese that isn't yours?" He didn't even wait for my reply this time. "Nacho cheese." He chuckled to himself. "Man, I crack myself up."

I couldn't even hide my smile this time. "Everyone knows that one."

"Not everyone," he huffed, like he was actually offended. "What about-"

I sit up straighter in his lap and turn his face to mine. "No more corny jokes."

"They weren't-"

"Brandon, yes they were," I laughed slightly.

He gave up and reluctantly shrugged. "They got you to smile."

My smile faltered slightly at the truth of his words. Not because I didn't enjoy being distracted right now, but because I realized the only person in the world who could get me to laugh at bad jokes would be Brandon. Brandon, the man who didn't judge me for who I was or what I did. Brandon, the man who saw my flaws and insecurities and still thinks I'm worth it. Brandon, the man that… I think I'm in love with. _Holy crap!_

My eyes started watering slightly at this new discovery. Love is a pretty strong emotion. Not only am I over-whelmed by it, but I can't even tell him about it. It's way too soon to be talking about love. I'll spook him off if I say something now and that's the last thing I want to do. Although there was that one time that we were making up and it seemed like he was about to say it but then he said "like" instead. That's just further proof that he isn't ready for the words to be said yet. Brandon sees my faltering smile and tear-filled eyes and automatically starts thinking the worst.

"Oh, please don't start crying again. The jokes weren't that bad, were they? Flora's the one who told me about them."

I laugh, swiped under my eye, and snuggled back down into his embrace. "You should stop taking joke advice from Flora, then."

"Understood." I feel his cheek lie on the top of my head. "Do you really want to go back home tomorrow?" He asks quietly.

"I can't stay here with them. Not after that. And I especially don't want you around my slutty sister," I mumble.

Brandon coughs awkwardly. "About that-"

I cover his mouth with my hand. "Believe me; I'm pretty sure I know how that went down. I trust you a hell of a lot more than her. I just don't want her around you anymore. Any objections?"

"You definitely won't hear any from me," he replies, his voice muffled by my hand.

I drop it. "Good."

"You know we don't have to go back to North Carolina, right? We could go to the beach or an amusement park or whatever you want before we go back."

I lifted my head, causing him to lift his as well, and say, "Don't act like you aren't dying to get back to Alfea Corporations."

He smiled. "Okay, maybe I'm itching to know how Sky's been running things for the last couple of days but I'm more interested in having a good vacation. With you."

My heart warmed at his thoughtfulness. How had I not known how crazy I was for this man before? He's done a lot for me so I'm going to return the favor.

"You're too sweet but I'm pretty homesick already. Can we just go back?" Brandon nods with an accepting face but I can see the happiness in his eyes. Alfea Corporations is like his baby. He doesn't like leaving it for long, but he was willing to stay away a little while longer for me. That's all I needed to know.

"Looks like we're going back then."

I laid my head back in the nook of his neck. "Good." I unsuccessfully stifled a yawn that Brandon, of course, noticed.

"How about you get some rest? We'll have to get up pretty early in the morning again." I couldn't argue him on that. I stood up and helped him up as well.

"See you in the morning. Set your phone alarm for… 5? Yeah, we better do 5 because you take like 30 minutes just to take a shower."

I lightly punch his stomach. "I do not."

He rolled his eyes. "It's not good to lie to yourself, Gorgeous." Smiling crookedly, he kissed my forehead softly and stepped back. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I say and bit my lip. I'm really tempted to ask him to stay; I didn't want to be alone. But before I could work up the courage to do it he was out of the door.

* * *

We left my old home a little after six. I guess Brandon was right about how long I take to get ready. I left a note taped to the guest room door for my father to find so he'll know we left. I didn't even want to leave that but Brandon said we should anyway. Just because.

It was a quiet ride so far, Brandon driving again. I was going to argue that he said I could drive back but I was still tired so I let him win this time. I fell asleep for most of the ride. I told Brandon to wake me up when were close to home. He did just that once we were on my street.

"Whoa, I slept the whole six hours back?" I questioned as we pulled up to my apartment.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure you didn't get a good night's sleep last night though."

I nod my head. That was true. I got maybe four hours of sleep last night because there were so many thoughts running through my head. I turned to Brandon now.

"So, what are you going to do after you leave here?"

He shrugs. "I might stay here with you or maybe go back to my place and see how housekeeping has been since I left..."

"You know, I've still never seen your house." Brandon paused to think about.

"Whoa, you're right. We'll have to change that soon but for now, let's get you settled."

* * *

"Stella! Oh, how I've missed you," Bloom over-dramatically exclaims as she crushes me in a bear hug. I laugh (as much as I could) and pat her back lightly.

"I've only been gone for like two days."

Bloom releases me and steps back with a slight frown on her face. "Exactly. Not that I'm not excited to see you or anything, but why _are_ you back five days early?"

"It's a long st-"

"Her family is as terrible as you told me, Bloom," Brandon interrupts as he brings in the last of my luggage. "They were beyond terrible, actually."

Bloom's eyes widened. "Seriously? What did they do?"

"I...I don't really want to talk about it now. I'll tell you later," I told her, going for a reassuring smile to show her that I was stable. She looked a little skeptical but nodded.

"I expect full details later, then."

Brandon's phone goes off. He answers, "Woods," in his business-like tone. He listens intently for a moment, glances at me, and then says, "I'll see what I can do."

He hangs up and looks at me apologetically. "It's Sky. I called him earlier in the car when you were asleep to let him know that we're coming back early. He wants me to go over there to see a few things that I miss-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up," Bloom lifted a hand. "You just got back and you're already going back to work? What's the deal?"

I shoved Bloom lightly and turned back to Brandon with a smile. "Go ahead. I know you're dying to see how you left things."

"Are you sure?" Brandon asked. I nodded my head and kissed his cheek.

"I'll be fine. But I did want to talk about something before you go." I turn to Bloom and give her a pointed look. "Bloom, can you give us a minute?"

She rolls her eyes. "You two can't talk outside?" Seeing my narrowed glare, she rolled her eyes again and went to her room. _She's such a drama-queen._

Now my full attention is on Brandon. "I never properly thanked you for being the awesome boyfriend that you are."

"Hmm. I don't believe you have," he teased.

I grin and throw myself at him in a hug. "Seriously. Thank you for everything. I don't think I would've survived that visit without you," I groaned out the last sentence like it would've been the hardest task in my life.

"I'm pretty sure you would've found a way. But the gratitude is much appreciated." He pulls back and grazes my cheeks with the pad of his thumbs. "I really hate seeing you cry."

I lean into his touch and find myself wanting him to stay again. Why does this man give me so many conflicting emotions? "Hey, how about you come over tomorrow night for dinner and a movie? I'll make lasagna," I tempted him using his favorite food as bait.

He mulled it over for a moment and then gave me a cheeky smile. "You had me at 'come over'," he murmured before giving me a kiss that would leave me breathless for days.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for all the support and reviews. You guys are awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwesome!**

**So this wasn't my best chapter but it sets things back in motion for the future. I know I said Flora and the others were going to make an appearance but I thought it would be better to have Brandon and Stella settled back in and then take a head start into that drama.**

**Do you think the family drama is over? What do you think of Stella's reaction? What do you think of Brandon's support? Most importantly, what do you think will happen next? I think I should give you a fair warning that the Steven issue isn't quite gone yet ;-)**

**I have to know if you liked it or disliked it so I'll know what direction to take this story in but the only way I'll know that is if you review...**

**So...Review!**


	17. Christmas Plans

**Chapter 17: Christmas Plans**

2 weeks later…

I left a few minutes earlier than usual from work today because Timmy and Tecna claimed that they would handle everything for the rest of the day. I don't tend to believe in love at first sight but the way those two looked at each other made you want to think twice about it.

When I arrived at Alfea Corp., there was a boatload of people moving around everywhere. A lot more than the usual amount of business participants. I even had to wait in line for almost ten minutes before I was next to speaking with the secretary.

"Hey, Flora!" I excitedly say. I hadn't seen nor spoken to her in days. That's why I'm really happy to catch up over lunch today.

Flora smiled. "Hey. Just give me a few more minutes to finish up a little bit of stuff here. These investor people have been in and out of here like flies all day. It's pretty hectic right now." I crinkle my eyes in confusion. She catches my look and explains, "It's an Investor Convention tour this week. People from all around are going to be in and out of here. All. Week." She didn't sound at all excited about that.

"There doing this this close to Christmas?" I ask.

She nods. "It's the busiest time of year for us. People are trying to get a piece of the company before the year closes up. Don't ask me why."

"Hmm, well it has to be good business for you, right?"

She rolls her eyes as the telephone rang. "Gosh, you sound too much like Brandon. If you want to go see him real fast feel free to do so. It'll only be a little while before my replacement takes over for the day."

I nod and she smiles before reaching over to pick up the phone. I couldn't help but noticing that her ring finger was still empty.

_I guess the decision has been made_, I thought to myself as I made my way to the elevator. The ride up to Brandon's office was crowded. I had to squeeze myself in the elevator just to ride on it. I blew out a breath of relief once I was let out on Brandon's floor. Just in time too, because the elevator was starting to smell like someone forgot to apply their deodorant.

The door office door was slightly ajar before I pushed it open completely. Brandon is sitting hunched over his desk with his hands fisted in his hair, looking incredibly stressed out.

"Headache?" I question as I walk in and shut the door firmly behind me. His head shoots up when he hears my voice and he gives me a crooked smile.

"Come here," he says tiredly and opens up his arms. I grin and walk over to sit in his lap. He immediately wraps me up in his arms and buries his head in my neck.

"Aw, are they working my Snookums too hard again?" I feel him smile against my neck.

"I just needed a little breather from all these meetings," he said against my neck, his breath tickling my skin.

"Oh, well I'm sorry to disturb you."

"No." He tightened his arms around me. "You just made it a lot more bearable."

Leaning over to put my cheek on his head, I said, "Glad to help. Have you even had lunch yet? You can go with Flora and me to eat if you really need to get away for a little while."

He shook his head and lifted it from my neck to look at me. "I'll be fine. Flora is in some deep need of girl time anyway and trust me; I don't want to be there for that."

I want to question him more on what she wants to talk about but I'll find that out soon enough. I study Brandon's face a little more to see more than just tiredness in his eyes.

"Is something else wrong?" I question.

"I… I don't really know. I mean, it could be a good thing but…"

"Well, what is it?"

Brandon scratched his chin. "Baltor," he says, naming his greatest competition in the business world.

"What trouble is he causing now?"

"That's the problem. Lately, he's been pretty quiet; too quiet. It's like he's flown off the radar. He's not even here for the Investors Convention like every year."

My eyebrows drew together. "Why would he be here for this if he knows there's no way you would let him invest in your company?"

"I can't really control who invests in my company," Brandon explains. "Baltor could easily get a small piece of Alfea if he wanted to but he doesn't want a small piece. He wants at least half."

"And that's never going to happen, right?"

"Not while I'm still alive. But it still worries me that I haven't been getting his regular threats of taking over my company. I think he's planning something."

"I wouldn't be so worried about it."

"No, you don't know him, Gorgeous. Something's up." He gets lost in his thoughts for a moment before I reel him back in with a kiss to his cheek.

"Whatever it is, you've got too much on your plate to stress about that right now."

He lifted this head up to mine. "Hmmm…I think I know what will help relieve some of that stress."

"What did you have in mind?" I reply breathlessly. He leans in closer and kisses the corner of my lips. My hands tighten on his collar as he whispers, "You."

Okay, I couldn't take any more of that. My self-control is terrible compared to a normal person's when it comes to Brandon. I crushed my lips to his, lighting every nerve in my body on fire. His and were gentle as they held me closer but his lips were a whole different story.

A loud beep interrupts us, followed by a voice saying, "Brandon, can you let Stella know I'm done? She can come back down now."

I groan. _Perfect timing Flora. _Brandon pulls away and presses a button on his work phone. "She's on her way down."

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" I ask as he faces me again.

"Too much work to take care of. I really need to get back to the meeting room before people start looking for me."

I reluctantly stand up, him following suit, and hug him tightly. "I'll see you later then." _I love you_ is what I really want to say; so much that the words almost tumble out of my mouth. I stop them at the last minute.

He brushes his lips across my temple. "See you later, Gorgeous."

* * *

"Okay, so what are you wearing to the Christmas party?" Flora asked as we sat down in the small but cozy coffee shop around the corner from Alfea Corporations.

"Uh, there's going to be a Christmas party?" I'm always the last to know everything.

"Brandon didn't tell you?" When I shook my head she rolled her eyes in annoyance. "That man is so infuriating! I can't blame him completely though; all this business coming in may have caused him to forget. Anyways, every year I throw a Christmas party for Alfea Corporations. Last year we used my house so this year we're using Brandon's house."

Brandon's house? "Okay, I'm there," I say immediately. I haven't seen Brandon's house before and I'm not letting anything deter me from seeing it now.

Flora laughed. "Of course you are but that doesn't answer my question. What are you wearing?"

I shrugged. "I'm sure Bloom is going to drag me to shopping for it anyway. Wait, Bloom's invited, right?"

"Definitely. Sky wouldn't let me live if I forgot to put her on the guest list. I'm sure you would have been upset as well," she smiles crookedly at me and I'm stricken at how much the smile resembles her brother's.

"Maybe…" I trail off and we both laugh. "Is everyone at the company invited?"

She takes a sip of her latté. "Yeah. It's really supposed to be just a company party but everyone is allowed to bring a plus one. The Investor Convention is this week, though, so it seems like the party is going to be more packed than usual."

"What about Mitzi?"

Flora almost spits out her drink. "Mitzi? Why are you asking about her?"

"I don't know. I was just wondering if she was going." It was partly true. I've been thinking of ways to resolve this issue between Brandon and Mitzi for a while. I know he says he wants nothing to do with her, but I think that if he lets go of all his anger towards her, he will feel a lot better.

"Well… um… I don't think Brandon would like that very much. Especially since it's at his house."

"She's still his sister, though."

"True, but… Mitzi and Brandon have a… complicated past. It's really not my place to tell you about it."

"Brandon already has."

Her eyebrows shot up at this. "Really?"

"Yeah. He told me about the drugs, the drug dealers, the gun, and his shoulder wound. Well, in more detail."

She still looked stunned. "Whoa. My brother must really love you. He _never_ talks about that."

I blush at her comment. Brandon in love with me? I can only dream.

"Since you know about it then you should understand the bad blood between them. He wouldn't forgive me if I put her on the invite list."

"Maybe it will be a chance for them to mend the old wounds. I mean, how did _you_ forgive her? You guys sat and talked it out didn't you?" I questioned, already feeling I was right.

She slightly shrugged one shoulder. "I was mad at her for a while too but when I saw that my parents could forgive her… I just decided that it wasn't worth it to hate her forever. She really was sorry even if she never shows it. She cleaned herself up and since Brandon turned her down when she applied at Alfea, she got a job at that clothing store Liberty City."

"See? You felt better having that hate off of your chest, didn't you? That's all I want for Brandon. He shouldn't carry around this burden forever and he isn't going to be willing to solve this problem by himself."

Flora hesitated, contemplating my idea, before ultimately shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Stella, but I don't want to start anything. Let's just leave it alone."

I nod but in my mind I know I'm nowhere near to leaving this alone. She may know Brandon well but I know him too. He may be mad for what I plan on doing later but he'll thank me. Eventually. Who knows, maybe he'll be thanking me immediately.

We're quiet for a few moments before she breaks the silence. "Helia asked me to be his date to the Christmas party."

My eyes widened. "And… what did you say?"

"I told him I'd have to think about it."

"Well…do you _want_ to go with him?" She pauses and then nods but says nothing more.

"Okay…" I say. "I'm guessing the reason for the delay is because of Riven, isn't it?"

She blew out huge breath, puffing out her cheeks. "If I go to that party with Helia it would be like I'm rubbing him in Riven's face. And I don't want to hurt Riven any more than I already have."

I decide to change the subject before things got too heavy.

"So… Musa didn't seem too happy with you when we left," I observe. Musa was the replacement that was filling in for Flora right now. When I came back downstairs, Flora was giving what seemed like some final directions to Musa. Musa finally snapped, "I think I understood it the third time you told me." Flora took a deep breath and didn't reply to Musa's outburst. I even caught Musa glaring at Flora's back as we walked away.

Flora sighs. "I think she has a thing for Riven. Ever since he and I… broke up, she's been giving me the cold shoulder."

"I would think that if she liked him then she would actually be glad that you and Riven… broke up." It didn't make much sense for her to dislike Flora even more.

"That's what I thought, but… I kind of understand it. Riven hasn't been himself at all. He's moodier and more distant than before, apparently. I don't see him anymore, though. He's been completely avoiding me. I understand that too," she says softly.

Well, it looks like I'm doing a terrible job and staying away from heavy subjects. "Hey, tell me more about the party. How are you thinking of setting up?"

She brightened at this and dove into an explanation about her complex design layout.

* * *

Later that night, I lie on my couch alone. Bloom is out somewhere with Sky and I'm pretty sure she isn't coming back home tonight. I think about my lunch with Flora. More specifically the part about Mitzi. An idea pops in my head.

I run into the kitchen and try to find a phone book. Then I think_ this is the 21__st__ century. _Ditching my search, I pulled out my phone and googled the number for the store I wanted. Once I found it I immediately dialed the number. It was only 7:30 so they couldn't be closed this early, right?

"Hello, thank you for calling Liberty City. I'm Samantha. How can I help you?"

I cleared my throat. "Um, yes. Can I speak with Mitzi Woods?"

* * *

**A/N: Thanks soooooooooooooooooooooo much for reading and reviewing! This was more of a filler to set up some things that will happen in the next chapter. **

**So, what do you think Baltor is up to, if he's up to anything? Will Flora go to the party with Helia? Is this plan that Stella is beginning going to blow up in her face?**

**Here's a very serious question though: Do you guys prefer Flora with Helia or Riven because believe it or not I can still steer it both ways. Just a question. If I don't get many responses then I'll just put it the way I planned. **

**Let me know if you enjoyed this chapter or thought it was the worst ever. (I hope it wasn't too bad lol)**

**So… Review!**

**P.S. I think it's about time you guys met Steven, don't you? ;-)**


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